DOANE 
The  Protest  and  Appeal. 


BX 

5960 

D7A3 


'UOHJ04S 


THE  PROTEST   AND  APPEAL 


GEORGE^WASHINGTON  DOANE,  I 

BISHOP  OF  NEW  JERSEY; 

AS  AGGRIEVED, 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  WILLIAM  MEADE,  D.D.;  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

GEORGE  BURGESS,  D.  D. ;  AND  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

CHARLES  PETTIT  McILVAINE,  D.  D.  : 


HIS    REPLY 


TO 

THE  FALSE,  CALUMNIOUS,  AND  MALIGNANT  REPRESENTATIONS 

OF 

WILLIAM  HALSTED,  CALEB  PERKINS,  PETER  V.  COPPUCK, 
AND  BENNINGTON  GILL ; 

ON    WHICH    THEY    GROUND 

THEIR    UNCANONICAL,    UNCHRISTIAN    AND    INHUMAN    PROCEDURE, 
IN  REGARD   TO  HIM. 


PHILADELPHIA;   KING  &  EAIRD: 

1852. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 
KING    &   BAIRD, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for 
the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


THE  LIBTOCRT 

UIuVSVSlTY  C?  'vlALIFCRNTT! 

SANTA  BATEAU* 

L  E  T  T  E  E, 

FROM  THE  BISHOPS  OF  VIRGINIA,  MAINE,  AND  OHIO, 
TO  THE  BISHOP  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 


September  22,  1851. 
TO  THE  RIGHT  REV'D  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  DOANE. 

RIGHT  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  : 

We  the  undersigned,  your  brethren  in  the  Episcopate,  have  recently 
received  from  certain  lay  members  of  our  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  New 
Jersey,  a  communication  calling  upon  us,  to  perform  the  painful  duty  of 
making  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  reports  in  relation  to  yourself,  which  have 
been  in  circulation  for  some  years  past.  This  we  are  requested  to  do,  in 
order  that  we  may  determine  whether  it  may  not  be  proper  to  institute  a 
trial  according  to  the  canon  of  the  General  Convention  provided  for  that 
purpose.  Such  is  the  character,  and  so  great  is  the  number  of  the  charges 
specified  in  that  document,  that  we  do  not  feel  ourselves  at  liberty  to  decline 
the  call  thus  made  upon  us,  unless  the  object  thereof  can  be  attained  in 
some  other  way,  which  shall  satisfy  the  reasonable  demands  of  complainants 
in  your  own  diocese  and  in  the  church  at  large. 

In  order  to  relieve  ourselves  from  a  most  distressing  duty,  we  have  deter- 
mined to  appeal  to  you,  in  the  hope  that  you  will  take  prompt  and  effectual 
measures,  for  carrying  into  operation,  what  must  have  been  the  expectation 
of  the  church  in  her  canon  for  the  trial  of  a  Bishop  : — viz.,  That  action  shall 
first  take  place  in  Diocesan  Conventions. 

It  appears  to  us,  that  it  is  only  when  a  Diocesan  Convention  refuses  to 
institute  inquiry,  or  neglects  to  do  it  for  too  long  a  period,  or  performs  the 
duty  unfaithfully,  that  the  Bishops  can  be  reasonably  expected  to  interfere. 
It  is  true,  that  in  the  present  case,  as  the  above  mentioned  document  sets 
forth,  and  as  has  been  otherwise  made  known  to  us,  it  has  been  wished  and 
attempted  to  induce  the  Convention  of  New  Jersey  to  take  this  subject  into 
consideration,  and  that  the  effort  has  been  resisted  and  prevented ;  never- 
theless, so  reluctant  are  we  to  engage  in  a  task  so  painful  as  that  set  before 
us,  that  we  have  resolved  to  advise  and  urge  you  to  have,  without  delay,  a 
Special  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  a  full  investigation  of  all  that  has 
been,  or  may  be,  laid  to  your  charge,  whether  in  the  document  we  transmit 
to  you,  or  otherwise.  It  is  also  our  duty,  as  your  brethren,  and  as  Bishops 
of  the  church,  most  earnestly  to  impress  it  on  your  mind,  that  such  is  the 


nature  of  the  charges  made  against  you  in  that  document,  and  of  the  same 
and  similar  reports,  which  for  years  have  been  in  circulation,  to  the  great 
grief  of  many,  and  the  injury  of  religion,  that  nothing  else  can  satisfy 
others,  and  relieve  yourself  from  the  suspicion  of  great  guilt,  but  the  ap- 
pointment, by  the  Convention,  of  an  impartial  and  intelligent  committee, 
in  whom  great  confidence  will  be  reposed — with  instructions  to  make  the 
fullest  investigation  of  the  evil  reports  which  are,  and  have  been,  assailing 
your  character  and  conduct.  We  feel  bound  to  say,  that  no  mere  report  of 
a  committee,  or  vote  of  a  Convention,  declaring  a  belief  of  your  innocency, 
and  that  an  inquiry  is  unnecessary,  will  suffice  for  your  own  reputation,  or  give 
satisfaction  to  the  public.  We  are  persuaded  that  nothing  but  such  an  inves- 
tigation as  that  which  we  have  described  and  recommended,  can  either  satisfy 
those  whom  you  may  deem  unfriendly  to  you,  or  relieve  the  minds  of  many 
anxious  and  distressed  friends.  Should  such  a  course  as  we  have  pointed 
out  be  pursued  by  you,  and  either  a  presentment  made,  or  sufficient  reasons 
be  assigned  why  it  is  not  merited — we,  your  brethren,  who  have  been  sought 
out  for  the  purpose,  and  have  most  reluctantly  consented  to  take  any  part  in 
it,  will  rejoice  to  be  relieved  from  the  most  trying  duty  which  could  possibly 
be  laid  upon  us. 

Sincerely  praying,  that  you  may  be  able  to  disprove,  or  satisfactorily  ex- 
plain, the  things  laid  to  your  charge,  or  else  have  grace  from  God  to  acknow- 
ledge whatever  has  been  done  amiss — we  remain  your  friends  and  brethren 
in  the  ministry  of  Christ. 

WILLIAM  MEADE, 

Bishop  of  the  P.  E.  C.  of  V—a. 

GEORGE  BURGESS, 

Bishop  of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church  in  Maine. 

CHA'S.  P.  McILYAINE, 

Bishop  of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church  in  Ohio. 


COMMUNICATION; 


FROM 

WILLIAM  HALSTED,  CALEB  PERKINS,  PETER  V.  COPPUCK, 
AND  BENNINGTON  GILL, 

TO 

THE  BISHOPS  OF  VIRGINIA,  OHIO,  AND  MAINE. 


To  the  Right  Reverend  William  Meade,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia  ; 
the  Right  Reverend  Charles  P.  M'llvaine,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Ohio  ; 
and  the  Right  Reverend  George  Burgess,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Maine. 

FOR  a  long  period,  more  especially  for  the  two  years  last  past,  grave  and 
serious  charges  injuriously  affecting  the  moral  character  of  the  Bishop  of  this 
Diocese,  tending  to  impair  his  usefulness  and  to  bring  our  Church  under 
reproach,  have  been  rife,  and  they  have  continued  to  increase  until  they  have 
reached  a  magnitude  and  assumed  a  form  which  the  blind  can  scarcely  fail  to 
see  or  the  deaf  to  hear.  Believing  that  the  best  welfare  of  the  Church  requires 
that  the  charges  should  be  promptly  met,  and  the  Church  be  relieved  of  the 
odium  under  which  she  rests,  while  the  same  continue  to  circulate  undenied 
and  unrefuted,  we  had  fondly  hoped  that  the  individual  implicated  would 
have  sought  the  earliest  opportunity  of  relieving  his  own  character  from  the 
imputations  which  are  almost  daily  made  against  it,  and  of  dissipating  the 
dark  cloud  of  obloquy  which,  in  consequence  of  these  imputations  against  its 
ecclesiastical  head,  now  grievously  mars  the  fair  character  of  our  Church. 

We  deeply  regret  that  the  Bishop  did  not  embrace  the  opportunity  which  was 
offered  him  by  the  resolution  of  enquiry  presented  to  the  Convention  of  the 
Diocese,  at  the  City  of  Burlington,  in  1849,  of  meeting  and  repelling  the 
rumors  and  charges  which  were  then  known  to  be  in  current  circulation 
against  him.  The  course  then  taken  served  to  confirm,  rather  than  diminish, 
the  suspicions,  that  these  charges  had  foundation  in  truth.  Since  then  we  have 
waited  till  two  other  annual  Conventions  have  passed,  at  either  of  which  the 
Bishop  has  had  a  full  and  free  opportunity  of  demanding  an  investigation  of  the 
truth  of  these  charges.  But  instead  of  demanding  an  investigation  as  every 
honorable  man  in  society  feels  bound  to  do  when  imputations  are  made  against 
his  character,  we  discover  a  manifest  intention  to  avoid  investigation,  and  to 
leave  these  rumors  and  charges  to  circulate  for  another  year  unchecked,  un- 
cleared, and  unrefuted. 

(5) 


6 

Acting  in  the  spirit  of  the  26th  Article  of  our  religion,  which  declares,  That 
it  appertaineth  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  that  enquiries  be  made  of  evil 
ministers,  and  that  they  be  accused  "  by  those  that  have  knowledge  of  their 
offences  ;"  we  felt  ourselves  called  upon  to  make  such  an  investigation  into  the 
nature  and  truth  of  these  charges,  as  to  enable  us  to  perform  our  duty  ;  and, 
upon  such  investigation,  we  are  compelled,  reluctantly,  to  say  that  there  are 
many  charges  publicly  made  against  the  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  which  ought, 
in  our  opinion,  to  be  investigated  under  the  Canon  of  the  General  Convention 
in  such  case  made  and  provided,  in  order  that,  if  false,  their  falsity  may  be 
made  manifest,  or,  if  true,  that  farther  measures  may  be  taken  under  the  same 
Canon  to  relieve  the  Church  from  the  odium  which  they  inflict  upon  her. 
Amongst  others  of  these  charges  visited  by  public  rumor  upon  the  Bishop  and 
the  Church  in  New  Jersey,  the  following  have  come  to  our  knowledge  : 

[Here  follow  the  charges  ;  which  are  inserted  in  the  REPLY.] 

We  believe  that  the  foregoing  charges  and  specifications  can  be  sustained  by 
proof,  and  we  therefore  present  them  to  you,  three  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  the  Bishops 
of  the  Church,  in  order  that  you  may  take  such  measures  in  accordance  with  the 
Canons  of  the  Church,  in  relation  to  the  same,  as  your  official  duty  and  your 
well  known  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  Church,  may  seem  to  you  to  require. 
In  this  communication  we  have  by  no  means  embraced  all  that  is  charged 
against  Bishop  Doane  by  public  rumpr.  Other  matters  of  a  like  dishonorable 
and  unbecoming  character  we  have  reason  to  believe  will  develop  themselves  to 
your  official  notice  whenever  you  shall  see  fit  to  act  upon  this  investigation. 

In  making  these  charges  we  are  actuated  by  no  motives  of  personal  hostility 
against  the  Bishop,  but  our  motive  is  to  sustain  and  vindicate  the  reputation  of 
that  Church  of  which  we  are  humble  members. 
New  Jersey,  August,  1851.  Signed, 

WM.  HALSTED, 
CALEB  PERKINS, 
PETER  V.  COPPUCK, 
BENNINGTON  GILL. 


PEOTEST,  APPEAL  AND  EEPLY. 


To  the  Right  Keverend  William  Meade,  D.  D.,  "  Bishop  of  the  P. 
E.  C.  of  Va. ;"  the  Right  Reverend  George  Burgess,  D.  D.,  "  Bishop 
of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church  in  Maine;"  and  the  Right  Reverend 
Charles  Petit  M'llvaine,  D.  I).,  "  Bishop  of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church 
in  Ohio :" 

The  undersigned,  the  Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  replies,  and  says: 
that  he  received,  through  an  unknown  hand,  on  this  second  day  of 
February,  a  document,  with  their  signatures,  addressed  to  him,  and 
dated,  without  place,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  1851, 
a  copy  of  which  with  the  document  accompanying  it,  signed,  "  Wil- 
liam Halsted,  Caleb  Perkins,  Peter  V.  Coppuck,  and  Bennington 
Gill,"  is  prefixed;  and,  that  he  has  read  the  two,  with  mingled  sur- 
prise and  indignation.  With  surprise,  that  three  persons,  bearing 
the  responsibilities  of  Bishops,  in  the  Church  of  God,  could  be  found 
to  take  action,  against  a  Bishop,  on  the  shewing  of  four  persons. 
With  indignation,  that  three  persons  bearing  the  responsibilities  of 
Bishops  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  presumed  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  principles  of  diocesan  and  episcopal  relations,  should  venture  on 
a  proceeding,  so  utterly  inconsistent  with  both.  "  Such  is  the  char- 
acter, and  so  great  is  the  number  of  the  charges  specified  in  that 
document,"  the  three  Bishops  say,  "that  we  do  not  feel  ourselves  at 
liberty  to  decline  the  call  thus  made  upon  us ;  unless  the  object 
thereof  can  be  attained  in  some  other  way,  which  shall  satisfy  the 
reasonable  demands  of  complainants  in  your  own  diocese,  and  in  the 
Church  at  large." — To  multiply  charges,  and  to  make  them  odious, 
seem  thus  sufficient,  in  the  judgment  of  the  three,  to  warrant,  and  in- 
deed, compel  proceedings,  against  a  Bishop.  Will  it  be  endured,  that 
they  shall  speak  of  "  complainants,"  in  the  diocese  of  the  under- 
signed ;  and  then  be  able  to  produce  but  four  ?  How  far  the  Church- 
men of  New  Jersey  will  permit  the  four,  whose  names  are  written 
above,  to  be  their  representatives,  the  undersigned  most  cheerfully 
consents  that  they  should  say. 

(7) 


8 

But,  surprise  is  heated  into  indignation,  when  the  three  Bishops 
announce  their  resolution.  "  We  have  resolved  to  advise  and  urge 
you  to  have  without  delay  a  special  Convention  for  the  purpose  of  a 
full  investigation  of  all  that  has  been,  or  may  be  laid  to  your  charge, 
whether  in  the  document  we  have  sent  to  you  or  otherwise.  It  is 
also  our  duty  as  your  brethren,  and  as  Bishops  of  the  Church,  most 
earnestly  to  impress  it  on  your  mind,  that  such  is  the  nature  of  the 
charges  made  against  you  in  that  document,  and  of  the  same  and 
similar  reports,  which  for  years  have  been  in  circulation  to  the  great 
grief  of  many,  and  the  injury  of  religion,  that  nothing  else  can  satis- 
fy others  and  relieve  yourself  from  the  suspicion  of  great  guilt,  but 
the  appointment  by  the  Convention  of  an  impartial  and  intelligent 
Committee,  in  whom  great  confidence  will  be  reposed,  with  instruc- 
tions to  make  the  fullest  investigation  of  the  evil  reports  which  are 
and  have  been  assailing  your  character  and  conduct.  We  feel  bound 
to  say  that  no  mere  report  of  a  Committee  or  vote  of  a  Convention, 
declaring  a  belief  of  your  innocency,  and  that  an  inquiry  is  unne- 
cessary, will  suffice  for  your  own  reputation,  or  give  satisfaction  to 
the  public.  We  are  persuaded  that  nothing  but  such  an  investiga- 
tion as  that  which  we  have  described  and  recommended,  can  either 
satisfy  those  whom  you  may  deem  unfriendly,  or  relieve  the  minds 
of  many  anxious  and  distressed  friends." —  The  undersigned  is  a 
Bishop,  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  There  is  nothing  against  which  our  whole  reformed  Com- 
munion in  England  and  America  protests  more  strenuously,  than 
against  the  right  of  any  Bishop  to  interfere,  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  any  other.  And,  for  himself,  he  must  alike  resist  the  intrusion,  into 
the  fold,  which  he  received  from  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  individual  pa- 
pacy of  Rome,  and  of  the  triumviral  papacy  of  Virginia,  Maine  and 
Ohio.  What !  Three  Bishops,  or  three  hundred,  or  three  thousand, 
presume  to  dictate  to  him,  under  the  menace  of  a  presentment,  the 
calling  of  a  special  meeting  of  the  Convention  of  his  diocese  !  Pre- 
sume to  dictate  the  object,  for  which  such  Convention  shall  be  called  ! 
Presume  to  dictate,  how  that  object  shall  be  sought !  By  a  Commit- 
tee !  By  "  an  impartial  and  intelligent  Committee  !"  By  an  im- 
partial and  intelligent  Committee,  "  in  whom  great  confidence  shall 
be  placed  !"  By  an  impartial  and  intelligent  Committee,  in  whom 
great  confidence  shall  be  placed,  "with  instructions"  to  do  precisely, 
what  the  three  shall  order !  "  No  mere  report  of  a  Committee,  or" 
even  "  vote  of  a  Convention,"  declaring  their  entire  belief  of  inno- 


cence,  and  the  needlessness  of  an  inquiry,  will  suffice.  Not  even  if 
the  Convention  of  New  Jersey,  as  in  1849,  should,  by  a  vote  unani- 
mous, declare  themselves  contented  with  their  Bishop,  and  refuse  to 
investigate,  would  that  content  the  three.  And,  then,  the  high  result 
of  this  implicit  submission  to  their  mandate  !  "  Should  such  a  course 
as  WE  have  pointed  out,  be  pursued  by  you,  and  either  a  present- 
ment made  or  sufficient  reasons  be  assigned  why  it  is  not  merited,  we 
your  brethren  who  have  been  sought  out  for  the  purpose,  and  have 
most  reluctantly  consented  to  take  any  part  in  it  will  rejoice" — at 
what  ? — not  that  innocence  shall  triumph,  not  that  malice  shall  be 
discomfited,  not  that,  one  called  a  "brother,"  shall  be  vindicated,  but 
— "  to  be  relieved  from  the  most  trying  duty  which  could  possibly 
be  laid  upon  us."  And,  then,  such  concluding  words  as  these : 
"  Finally,  praying  that  you  may  be  able  to  disprove  I  or  satisfactori- 
ly explain,  the  things  laid  to  your  charge  ;  or  else  have  grace  from 
God  to  acknowledge  whatever  has  been  done  amiss,  we  remain  your 
friends  and  brethren  in  the  ministry  of  Christ."  And  all  the  while 
might  not  the  real  secret  of  their  earnestness,  to  have  the  present- 
ment made  by  the  Convention,  be  their  anxiety,  to  save  their  own 
three  votes,  for  use,  upon  the  trial  ? 

But  the  three  Bishops  have  misconceived  their  man.  The 
undersigned  has  not  asked  their  advice ;  and  will  not  submit  to 
their  urgency.  Least  of  all,  will  he  listen  to  their  advice,  or 
endure  their  urgency,  under  the  enforcement  of  a  threat.  No 
such  special  Convention  will  be  called  by  him.  No  interference 
with  his  equal  and  inalienable  rights,  as  one  of  the  Bishops 
of  Jesus  Christ,  can  be  suffered  by  him.  No  aggression,  upon 
the  Christian  freedom  and  ecclesiastical  independence  of  the  flock, 
over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  him  overseer,  will  be 
allowed  by  him.  In  the  perfect  fearlessness  of  truth,  he  stands, 
and  will  stand,  in  his  lot ;  whatever  his  divine  and  gracious  Father 
may  ordain,  that  it  shall  be.  And,  in  the  name  and  presence  of 
Almighty  God,  he  now  proceeds,  to  make,  to  record,  and  to  proclaim 
his  solemn  PKOTEST,  and  his  APPEAL,  as  solemn,  to  the  Bishops, 
every  where,  with  whom  he  is  in  communion,  against  the  un- 
canonical,  unchristian,  and  inhuman  procedure,  of  the  three,  whose 
names  are  overwritten. 

G.  W.  DOANE, 

Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 

Riverside,  2  February,  1852. 


10 


PROTEST. 

IN  the  Name  of  the  FATHER,  and  of  the  SON,  and  of  the  HOLY 
GHOST,  Amen.  The  undersigned,  George  Washington  Doane, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  by  divine  permission,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  New 
Jersey,  humbly  ministering  before  God,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his 
Episcopate,  in  the  name  of  His  crucified  Son,  and  in  the  power  of 
His  sanctifying  Spirit;  and  not  without  tokens  of  the  Heavenly 
blessing,  on  his  unfaithful  and  unworthy  ministrations :  makes,  now, 
as  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  HOLY  TRINITY,  adorable  and 
ever  to  be  blessed,  his  solemn  Protest,  as  aggrieved  by  the  Right 
Reverend  William  Meade,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia; 
the  Right  Reverend  George  Burgess,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese 
of  Maine ;  and  the  Right  Reverend  Charles  Pettit  M'llvaine,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Ohio,  by  their  uncanonieal,  unchristian, 
and  inhuman  procedure,  in  regard  to  him,  as  herebefore  set  forth, 
in  the  document,  bearing  their  signatures. 

He  protests  against  their  action  as  uncanonical.  The  under- 
signed is  the  Bishop  of  a  diocese.  The  three  signers  are  Bishops,  in 
three  several  dioceses.  The  limit  of  the  diocese,  in  every  case,  is 
the  limit  of  official  action.  There  is  nothing  clearer  in  the  voice  of 
primitive  antiquity,  than  the  prohibition  of  episcopal  intrusion. 
Nothing,  within  our  age,  has  been  the  cause  of  more  excitement, 
than  the  aggression  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  upon  the  dioceses  of  the 
Bishops  in  England.  The  Council,  which  set  forth  the  Nicene 
Creed,  A.  D.  325,  prefixes,  to  the  Canon  of  Episcopal  limitations 
the  emphatic  sentence,  "Let  the  ancient  customs  be  maintained  !" 
And  the  second  Canon  of  the  second  General  Council,  A.  D.  381,  at 
which  the  Creed  of  Nicaea  was  completed,  referring  to  the  decree  of 
the  former  Council,  distinctly  says,  "the  Bishops  must  not  go 
beyond  their  dioceses,  nor  enter  upon  churches  without  their 
borders,  nor  bring  confusion  into  their  churches."  And,  again, 
"  Bishops  may  not,  without  being  called,  go  beyond  the  bounds 
of  their  diocese,  for  the  purpose  of  ordaining,  or  any  other  ecclesias- 
ical  function."  The  xpu-tov  4*rSoj  of  the  Papacy  is  the  claim  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  to  jurisdiction  beyond  his  diocese :  and  this  first 
lie  has  been  the  fruitful  source  of  every  Romish  error  and  cor- 
ruption. By  the  fourth  Article  of  the  "  Constitution,"  "  for  the 


11 

government  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  it  is  ordained,  that  "every  Bishop  of  the 
Church  shall  confine  the  exercise  of  his  episcopal  office  to  his 
proper  diocese."  And,  when  the  Apostle  Peter,  in  the  first  of  his 
holy  Epistles,  which,  by  their  divine  inspiration,  are  higher  than  all 
Canons  or  any  Constitution,  enjoins  on  the  believers,  "let  none 
of  you  suffer,  as  a  murderer,  or  as  a  thief,  or  as  an  evil  doer,  or  as 
a  busy  body  in  other  men's  matters ;"  the  character  last  described  is, 
in  the  original,  OM.OI piotmaxoito^  which  literally  means  a  Bishop,  out 
of  his  own  diocese.  That  the  action  now  complained  of  is  the 
action  of  these  three,  as  Bishops,  is  manifest,  in  all  the  paper,  which 
they  send,  as  well  as  in  the  style,  with  which  they  sign  it.  That 
their  sole  office,  as  Bishops,  in  any  case,  where  discipline  is  called 
for,  towards  a  Bishop,  is  to  make  a.  presentment,  the  Canon,  "  Of 
the  Trial  of  a  Bishop,"  clearly  shows.  That  the  right  of  any  three 
Bishops,  to  present  the  Bishop  of  a  diocese,  is  limited  to  cases,  where 
a  Diocesan  Convention,  for  some  cause,  disregards  its  duty,  in  the 
premises,  is  manifest,  from  the  whole  structure  of  the  Canon ;  which, 
on  any  other  construction,  could  never  have  permitted  three 
Bishops,  in  a  Church,  where  there  are  more  than  thirty,  to  stand,  as 
the  alternative,  of  two-thirds  of  each  order,  in  a  Diocesan  Conven- 
tion, where  two-thirds  of  the  Clergy,  entitled  to  seats,  and  two- 
thirds  of  the  parishes,  canonically  in  union,  were  present.  And 
yet,  departing  from  their  place,  transcending  all  their  rights, 
invading  another  diocese,  and  dictating  to  another  Bishop,  they 
prescribe,  as  the  condition  of  their  not  presenting  him,  the  course 
which  he  shall  pursue,  the  course  which  his  diocese  shall  pursue,  the 
course  which  his  Convention  shall  pursue,  and  the  course  which  its 
Committee  shall  pursue.  They  reject,  before  hand,  the  declaration 
of  the  Convention,  among  whom  their  Bishop  has  gone  in  and  out, 
for  twenty  years,  that  they  believe  him  innocent.  They  reject, 
before  hand,  the  determination  of  the  Convention,  that  enquiry  is 
unnecessary.  They  must  have  the  very  investigation  which  they 
"  advise  and  urge  ;"  which  they  "  have  described  and  recom- 
mended ;"  which  they  "  have  pointed  out :"  or,  else,  the  undersigned 
must  be  presented.  Against  this  aggression  on  the  diocese  of  New 
Jersey ;  against  this  invasion  of  the  most  sacred  rights  of  the 
undersigned  ;  against  this  dictation  to  him  to  pursue  a  course 
marked  out  by  them,  and  to  his  Convention,  to  pursue  that  course, 
under  the  threat  of  a  presentment,  if  such  dictation  shall  not  be 


12 

obeyed ;  and,  thus,  the  fear  of  a  presentment  be  admitted :  the  un- 
dersigned most  solemnly  protests,  as  uncanonical ;  and  utterly  refuses 
to  submit  to  it. 

He  protests  against  their  action  as  unchristian.  The  blessed  Paul, 
addressing  the  Galatians,  writes,  "  Brethren,  if  any  man  be  over- 
taken in  a  fault,  ye,  which  are  spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness;  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted." 
He  had  learned  this  lesson  of  the  dear  and  gracious  Lord,  who  died 
for  us :  whose  rule  in  all  such  cases,  is,  "  If  thy  brother  shall  tres- 
pass against  thee  go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and 
him  alone:  if  he  shall  hear  thee  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother. 
But  if  he  will  not  hear  thee  take  with  thee  one  or  two  more,  that  in 
the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  may  be  established. 
And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  Church." 
Such,  upon  this  subject,  is  the  law  of  Christ ;  binding  on  all  Chris- 
tians :  and  surely  not  the  least  so  on  all  Christian  Bishops.  Now 
the  document  which  the  three  bishops  have  adopted  bears  date, 
New  Jersey,  August,  1851.  Their  own  letter  bears  date,  Septem- 
ber 22,  1851.  The  reports  which  they  complain  of,  they  say, 
"  have  been  in  circulation  for  some  years  past ;"  and  again,  "  for 
years  have  been,  in  circulation :"  some  of  them,  much  longer  ago,  as 
is  apparent  from  the  lai'ger  document,  than  the  date  of  the  assign- 
ment of  his  property,  made,  by  the  undersigned,  three  years  since. 
And,  yet,  in  all  that  time,  no  one  of  these  three  Bishops  ever  told 
the  undersigned  his  fault,  alone ;  or  came,  with  two  or  three,  to  tell 
him.  No  one  of  them  ever  uttered  a  word  or  addressed  a  line,  to 
him,  of  admonition,  or  expostulation,  or  even  of  inquiry.  He  was 
with  them,  during  the  Session  of  the  General  Convention,  at  Cincin- 
nati ;  and  not  one  of  them  came  to  him,  to  say  a  syllable  upon 
the  subject.  One  of  them,  the  Bishop  of  Ohio,  was,  several  days,  in 
Burlington,  in  November  last ;  before  which  it  is  known  that  he  had 
been  applied  to  for  his  consent  to  some  such  movement,  afterwards 
declined  by  him.  He  called  at  the  residence  of  the  undersigned. 
The  undersigned  returned  his  visit;  and  spent  at  least  a  half  an 
hour  with  him,  in  free  and  friendly  conversation.  And,  yet,  no 
hint  of  any  distrust  in  his  mind ;  of  any  paper  in  his  pocket ;  of  any 
movement  in  his  heart.  Nor,  as  the  undersigned  is  well  convinced, 
did  he  take  that  occasion  to  go  to  any  one  of  those  who  knew  the 
case  and  were  parties  to  it,  in  Burlington ;  to  those  who  have  charge 
now  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  two  institutions,  which  involved  the 


13 

undersigned  in  all  his  trouble ;  or  who,  as  friends  and  neighbours, 
knew  the  facts,  and  could  have  furnished  authentic  information  and 
conclusive  evidence.  And,  yet,  the  Bishop  of  Ohio,  thus  derelict  of 
the  first  duty  of  a  Christian,  of  a  brother,  of  a  man,  when  he  had 
all  the  means  for  its  discharge,  at  hand ;  and  the  Bishops  of  Virginia 
and  Maine,  with  the  pressure  of  three  years,  and  more,  of  evil  report, 
as  they  allege,  upon  their  ears,  with  the  favourable  opportunity, 
which  the  Session  of  the  General  Convention  afforded,  and  with  the 
multiplied  and  multiform  occasions  which  the  railroad  and  the  mail 
supply,  without  one  previous  word,  approach  the  undersigned,  whom 
they  describe  as  "  brother,"  in  February,  1852,  in  an  official  paper, 
with  their  official  signatures;  having  received,  as  unquestionable 
ground  for  the  highest  ecclesiastical  proceeding,  a  document,  which 
bears  the  names  of  but  four  persons,  and  which  they  have  evidently 
adopted,  without  applying  to  it  a  single  test,  as  to  its  truth  or  accu- 
racy: and,  on  that  sole  basis,  demand  of  him  a  course  of  action 
unprecedented  in  the  history  of  our  own  Church,  and  unparalleled 
in  any  other ;  and,  that,  under  a  threat,  if  he  refuses,  of  immediate 
presentment.  Against  this  action,  as  utterly  unchristian,  he  solemnly 
protests. 

And  he  protests  against  it  as  inhuman.  These  Bishops  have,  for 
years,  as  they  allege — for  more  than  three  years,  as  the  document 
which  they  adopt,  sets  forth — heard  the  reports  on  which  they 
ground  their  present  action.  And  they  have  chosen,  for  it,  such  a 
time  as  this.  When,  as  they  might  have  known,  had  they  inquired, 
before  they  acted,  that  the  undersigned,  by  the  assignment  of  all  his 
property  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors— having  before  anticipated, 
for  at  least  four  years,  in  his  efforts  to  maintain  the  institutions 
he  had  founded,  his  only  income,  except  his  salary,  as  Rector  of 
St.  Mary's  Church,  of  seven  hundred  dollars,  which  is  chargeable 
with  the  maintenance  of  an  aged  mother  and  two  sisters — had  made 
himself  dependent,  altogether,  for  his  living,  and  his  family's,  upon 
.money  loaned  him,  in  advance  of  income,  which  expires  with  life. 
When,  as  they  knew,  his  hearth  is  visited  with  the  severest  sorrow, 
not  involving  sin,  that  human  house  can  hold.  When,  as  they 
knew,  his  heart  was  bleeding,  still,  from  the  immedicable  wound, 
which  it  received,  but  two  months  since,  in  the  bereavement  of  one, 
who  was  its  more  than  brother.  Within  three  years,  the  documents 
allege  no  new  offence.  No  reputable  person,  here,  will  say,  that, 
for  a  year,  or  more,  the  old  attempted  calumnies  have  been  revived. 


14 

A  visit,  of  a  day,  to  Burlington,  with  the  desire  to  know  the  truth, 
would  have  removed,  from  any  of  the  three,  all  apprehension  as  to 
"the  grief  of  many,"  or  "the  injury  of  religion."  But  they  pre- 
ferred to  act,  from  Maine,  from  Ohio,  and  from  Virginia ;  and  draw 
their  fearful  bow  at  the  crushed  heart  of  one  whom  they  yet  call 
their  brother.  The  undersigned  solemnly  protests  against  this  action 
of  these  Bishops,  at  such  a  time,  and  in  such  circumstances,  as 
inhuman. 

All  which,  as  in  the  fear  of  God,  under  a  full  sense  of  all  his 
official  responsibilities,  and  as  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
judgment,  the  undersigned,  freely  forgiving  the  Bishops  who  have 
thus  aggrieved  him,  and  humbly  beseeching  their  forgiveness  of 
Almighty  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  unreservedly  affirms 
and  deliberately  subscribes,  at  Riverside,  this  fifth  day  of  February, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1852. 

G.  W.  DOANE, 

Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 

Signed  in  the  presence  of,  and  attested  by, 
Reuben  J.  Germain,  Presbyter,  Principal  of  St.  Mary's  Hall ; 
Moses  P.  Stickney,  Presbyter,  Hector  of  Burlington  College ; 
Adolph  Frost,  Presbyter,  Librarian  of  Burlington  College  ; 
Marcus  F.  Hyde,  Presbyter,  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in 
Burlington  College. 


APPEAL. 

To  the  Right  Reverend  Philander  Chase,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Illinois,  Presiding  in  the  House  of  Bishops  ;  the  Right  Rever- 
end Thomas  Church  Brownell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
Connecticut ;  the  Right  Reverend  Levi  Silliman  Ives,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  North  Carolina ;  the  Right  Reverend  John 
Henry  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Vermont ;  the 
Right  Reverend  Benjamin  Bosworth  Smith,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
diocese  of  Kentucky ;  the  Right  Reverend  James  Hervey  Otey,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Tennessee ;  the  Right  Reverend  Jackson 
Kemper,  D.  D.,  Missionary  Bishop  for  Wisconsin  and  Iowa ;  the 
Right  Reverend  Samuel  Allen  M'Croskey,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Michigan  ;  the  Right  Reverend  Leonidas  Polk,  D.  D.,  Bishop 


15 

of  the  diocese  of  Louisiana ;  the  Right  Reverend  William  Heathcote 
De  Lancey,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Western  New 
York  ;  the  Right  Reverend  Christopher  Edwards  Gadsden,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina ;  the  Right  Reverend  Wil- 
liam Rollinson  Whittingham,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Mary- 
land ;  the  Right  Reverend  Stephen  Elliott,  jun.,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  diocese  of  Georgia ;  the  Right  Reverend  Alfred  Lee,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Delaware  ;  the  Right  Reverend  John  Johns, 
D.  D.,  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Virginia ;  the  Right  Rev- 
erend Manton  Eastburn,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Massachu- 
setts ;  the  Right  Reverend  John  Prentiss  Kewley  Henshaw,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Rhode  Island  ;  the  Right  Reverend  Carlton 
Chase,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  New  Hampshire ;  the  Right 
Reverend  Nicholas  Hamner  Cobbs,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
Alabama ;  the  Right  Reverend  Cicero  Stephens  Hawkes,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Missouri ;  the  Right  Reverend  William 
Jones  Boone,  D.  D.,  Missionary  Bishop,  at  Amoy,  in  China ;  the 
•  Right  Reverend  George  Washington  Freeman,  D.  D.,  Missionary 
Bishop  of  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  South  of  36 J  deg., 
with  Supervision  of  the  Church  in  Texas ;  the  Right  Reverend  Horatio 
Southgate,  D.  D. ;  the  Right  Reverend  Alonzo  Potter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Pennsylvania ;  the  Right  Reverend  George 
Upfold,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Indiana ;  the  Right  Rever- 
end William  M.  Green,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Mississippi ; 
the  Right  Reverend  John  Payne,  D.  D.,  Missionary  Bishop,  at  Cape 
Palmas,  on  the  Western  Coast  of  Africa ;  the  Right  Reverend  Fran- 
cis Huger  Rutledge,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Florida ;  the 
Right  Reverend  John  Williams,  D.  D.,  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Connecticut ;  and  the  Right  Reverend  Henry  John  White- 
house,  D.  D.,  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Illinois ;  and,  all 
and  singular,  the  Bishops  of  the  Reformed  Catholic  Church,  in  all  the 
world;  the  undersigned,  the  Right  Reverend  George  Washington 
Doane,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  New  Jersey,  as  ag- 
grieved by  the  uncanonical,  unchristian,  and  inhuman  action  of  the 
Right  Reverend  William  Meade,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
Virginia ;  the  Right  Reverend  George  Burgess,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  diocese  of  Maine,  and  the  Right  Reverend  Charles  Petit  M'H- 
vaine,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Ohio,  having  made,  as  before 
recorded,  and  to  be  proclaimed,  his  solemn  Protest,  now  makes,  in  the 
presence  of  Almighty  God,  and  in  the  name  of  the  holy  undivided 


16 

TRINITY,  to  his  brethren  in  the  Episcopate,  beloved  in  the  Lord,  his 
solemn  Appeal ;  as  one,  in  whom  the  sacred  order  of  Bishops  has  been 
insulted,  the  first  principles  of  our  diocesan  Episcopacy,  as  handed 
down  to  us  from  Jesus  Christ,  have  been  disregarded ;  the  sover- 
eignty of  dioceses  invaded ;  and  the  independence  of  diocesan  Con- 
ventions laid  under  dictation. 

For  himself,  the  undersigned  asks  nothing  of  his  brethren,  in  the 
Episcopate  above  appealed  to,  but  that  which  their  instincts  as  men, 
their  obligations  as  Christians,  and  their  responsibilities  as  Bishops, 
will  freely  accord  to  him,  upon  the  simple  showing  of  his  case. 

The  Appeal,  which  he  now  makes,  is  for  "  the  house  of  God,  and 
the  offices  thereof."  One  member  cannot  suffer,  and  all  the  mem- 
bers not  suffer  with  it.  That  which  is  now  attempted,  in  New  Jersey, 
may  be  pursued,  elsewhere.  If  the  mere  representation  of  four  lay- 
men, without  confirmation  from  his  diocese,  and  even  without  exami- 
nation as  to  its  value,  can  be  regarded,  as  the  sufficient  warrant,  for 
three  Bishops,  to  present  a  Bishop,  to  be  tried ;  or,  what  is  infinitely 
worse,  demand  his  obedience  and  submission  to  their  will,  under  the 
penalty  of  a  presentment,  what  Bishop  can  be  safe,  what  Diocese  se- 
cure ?  "  Proximus  Ucalegon  ardet."  The  undersigned  would  rouse 
his  brethren,  all,  to  the  alarming  inroad,  which  is  now  attempted  on 
the  peace,  the  freedom  and  the  order  of  the  Church.  The  first 
stride  of  the  three  Bishops,  not  addressed  in  this  Appeal,  is  longer 
than  the  Papacy  achieved,  in  centuries.  The  spirit  of  Popery  is  not 
confined  within  the  Vatican.  There  are  potential  Popes,  upon  whom 
no  shadow  from  the  seven  hills  has  ever  fallen.  The  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
thin  shade  of  Leo  or  of  Hildebrand,  that  lingers,  yet,  and  trembles, 
along  the  Tiber.  Our  Popery  is  here.  The  Papacy  of  prejudice  is  that, 
from  which  we  have  to  fear.  The  freedom,  peace  and  order  of  the 
Church  are  threatened  now,  through  a  triumvirate  of  tyrants.  And  the 
undersigned  could  never  rest  upon  his  pillow,  nor  go  in  hope  into  his 
grave,  nor  look  for  mercy  at  that  day,  did  he  not  call  upon  his  breth- 
ren in  the  Episcopate,  as  they  shall  stand  with  him  before  the  Judge, 
to  give  account  of  the  holy  and  beautiful  flocks,  which  they  received 
from  Him,  as  purchased  with  His  blood,  to  see  to  it,  upon  the  peril  of 
their  consecration  vows,  that  this  high  handed  undertaking  be  indig- 
nantly frowned  down ;  that,  so,  in  the  warning  words  of  the  third 
General  Council,  (held  at  Ephesus,  A.  D.,  431,)  "the  canons  of  the 
Fathers  be  not  transgressed,  nor  the  pride  of  worldly  power  be  in- 


17 

trocluced  under  the  appearance  of  a  sacred  office,  nor  we,  by  little, 
lose  that  liberty,  wherewith  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Deliverer  of 
all  men,  has  endowed  us,  by  His  own  blood." 

The  undersigned,  simply  declaring,  as  under  the  immediate  eye  of 
God,  to  his  Right  Reverend  brethren,  addressed  above,  his  entire  and 
perfect  integrity  and  innocence,  as  to  all  and  singular,  the  charges 
made  against  him ;  assuring  them  of  the  sincerity  of  his  fraternal 
love  and  service  ;  and  humbly  and  affectionately  soliciting  from  them 
the  continual  charity  of  their  prayers,  subscribes  himself,  in  all  fidelity, 
their  brother  and  servant,  in  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Je- 
sus Christ, 

G.  W.  DOANE, 

Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 

Signed  in  the  presence  of,  and  attested  by, 
Reuben  J.  Germain,  Presbyter,  Principal  of  St.  Mary's  Hall; 
Moses  P.  Stickney,  Presbyter,  Rector  of  Burlington  College  ; 
Adolph  Frost,  Presbyter,  Librarian  of  Burlington  College  ; 
Marcus  F.  Hyde,  Presbyter,  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in 
Burlington  College. 

REPLY. 

IN  replying  to  the  false,  calumnious  and  malignant  charges  of 
William  Halsted,  Caleb  Perkins,  Peter  V.  Coppuck,  and  Benning- 
ton  Gill,  covering,  as  they  do,  the  range  of  many  years  of  public 
service  and  of  public  sacrifice,  and  crawling  into  the  inner  sancti- 
ties of  private  life,  an  outline  of  the  course  of  events,  with  which 
they  are  connected,  becomes  necessary.  A  stand-point  must  be 
given  to  honest  people,  from  which  they  may  see,  in  its  true  bearings 
and  real  complexion,  the  depth  and  darkness  of  that  flood  of  false- 
hood, calumny  and  malignity,  into  which  these  four  laymen  have 
desperately  plunged.  It  is  of  the  first  necessity  to  show  the  course 
of  things,  by  which  a  man,  who  challenges  the  world,  upon  the  ground 
of  perfect  honesty  of  purpose  and  unreserved  and  ruinous  self- 
sacrifice,  could  possibly  be  made  the  subject  of  such  charges,  even 
from  such  a  source.  The  statement,  from  the  very  nature  of  it, 
could  be  made  by  none,  but  him  who  is  its  subject.  It  shall  be  so 
constructed,  as  to  defy  contradiction,  or  material  correction. 

The  undersigned  was  elected  Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  on  the  3d  day 
of  October,  1832  ;  being  then  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  in  the  city 

2 


18 

of  Boston.  He  had  no  knowledge  that  his  name  had  been  before 
the  diocese,  until  the  Committee  brought  to  him  the  testimonials 
of  his  election.  There  were  many  reasons  why  he  should  have 
shrunk  from  the  acceptance  of  the  office,  to  which  he  was  then 
designated.  But,  if  the  voice  of  God  is  to  be  heard  at  all,  it  must  be 
through  the  councils  of  the  Church.  The  friends,  on  whom  he  had 
relied  the  longest  and  the  most,  urged  his  acceptance.  He  was 
consecrated  on  the  31st  day  of  October,  of  that  year.  In  the 
summer  after  his  consecration,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wharton  died ;  and  the 
undersigned  was  chosen  his  successor  as  the  Rector  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Burlington. 

At  the  date  of  his  consecration,  the  Church  in  the  diocese  of  New 
Jersey  was  in  a  most  feeble  and  depressed  condition.  The  late 
Reverend  John  Croes,  the  oldest  son  of  the  venerable  first  Bishop, 
deliberately  expressed  the  conviction,  that,  in  West  Jersey,  the 
Church  could  never  be  revived.  There  were  but  seventeen  Cler- 
gymen, in  the  diocese.  The  actual  communicants  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Burlington,  were  less  than  thirty.  The  whole  amount  of 
Missionary  collections,  from  all  the  parishes,  reported  in  1833,  was 
$121. 05J.  The  Fund  for  the  support  of  the  Episcopate  amounted 
to  $2049.33  ;  and  the  whole  amount  paid  to  the  Bishop  for  the  first 
year  of  his  episcopate  was  $206.92,  being  the  aggregate  of  col- 
lections in  the  parishes,  with  interest.  It  was  thus,  literally,  "  the 
day  of  small  things."  But,  there  was  an  earnest  spirit  and  resolved 
heart ;  and  the  work  was  entered  on,  in  unreserving  faith.  At  the 
Convention  of  1833,  it  was  resolved  that  efforts  should  be  made  to 
increase  the  Fund  to  $10,000,  within  five  years.  The  addition 
reported  in  two  years  was  but  $1657.27;  of  which  the  income  relin- 
quished by  the  Bishop,  to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  design, 
was  $546.05,  about  one-third.  In  1840,  the  permanent  salary  to 
be  paid  to  the  Bishop,  as  soon  as  practicable,  was  fixed  by  Canon  at 
$2400  per  annum.  But  the  Fund  has  never  reached  $10,000  :  and 
the  annual  receipts  of  the  Bishop,  including  travelling  expenses  and 
postages,  have  never  much  exceeded  the  tenth  part  of  the  salary  pro- 
posed by  Canon.  His  only  other  source  of  income  has  been  his  salary 
as  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Burlington  ;  at  first  $440,  and  then 
$700,  with  the  Parsonage.  The  net  receipts  of  his  official  income 
from  both  sources,  have  not  exceeded  $500  per  annum,  through  the 
period  of  his  episcopate.  The  private  income  of  one,  who  never 
withheld  her  hand  from  the  service  of  Christ's  Church,  or  the  comfort 


19  . 

of  His  poor,  has  supplied  the  lack  of  service  of  the  diocese,  in  sup- 
porting the  episcopate. 

But,  it  was  ample  for  the  purpose.  And,  had  the  undersigned 
confined  himself  to  his  mere  work,  as  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  and 
Hector  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  he  never  would  have  been  compelled 
to  reply  to  these  atrocious  charges ;  nor  been  dependent,  for  the  poor 
pittance,  which  supplies  his  personal  necessities,  on  the  confidence 
and  kindness  of  another.  To  revive  the  work  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
field  of  duty  where  his  lot  was  cast,  something  was  evidently  called 
for,  beyond  the  slow  and  distant  hope  of  mere  parochial  increase. 
A  rally  of  Churchmen,  on  Church  principles,  was  needed  for  the 
work  of  the  Church.  The  natural  reliance,  with  God's  blessing, 
must  be  on  Christian  education.  The  diocese  was  singular,  in  its 
facilities  for  that  purpose.  The  enterprise  would  overflow  on 
the  whole  Church ;  and  swell  the  rivers  which  make  glad  the  city  of 
our  God.  And,  in  the  faith  in  which  the  office  of  a  Bishop  had  been 
undertaken,  the  plan  of  a  Diocesan  School  for  boys  was  early  the 
object  of  attention  and  enquiry.  While  this  was  so,  the  proprietor 
of  a  long  established  Female  Seminary,  in  the  city  of  Burlington, 
desiring  to  retire  from  its  charge,  proposed  the  sale  of  his  establish- 
ment, as  a  Church  School  for  Girls.  This  was  in  1836.  On  con- 
sultatiom  with  judicious  friends,  here  and  elsewhere,  who  advised  the 
enterprise,  and  made  offer  of  their  aid,  it  was  determined  to  embark 
in  it.  And  St.  Mary's  Hall  for  Female  Education  on  Church  Prin- 
ciples, was  opened  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1837.  The  announce- 
ment was  received  with  favor,  every  where.  But  who  can  ever  forget 
the  storms  that  swept  the  country,  in  that  year  ?  Who  has  not  walked 
in  sorrow  among  the  wrecks,  that  strewed  the  shore  ?  What  strong- 
est commercial  house,  what  best  concerted  financial  enterprise  that 
did  not  suffer,  from  its  violence  ? 

Its  first  effect  upon  the  undersigned  was  to  arrest  the  subscription 
to  a  loan  of  $25,000,  towards  an  endowment,  before  two-thirds  of  it 
had  been  obtained;  and  leave  him,  to  supply  the  deficiency,  as  he 
best  could.  Its  further  effect  was  to  keep  down  the  patronage  of 
the  institution,  for  several  years,  to  a  point,  far  below  the  cost 
of  maintenance.  Nevertheless,  it  did  not  stop.  And,  at  one  time, 
when  there  were  but  twenty-six  pupils,  more  than  one  quarter  of 
them  were  free ;  being  orphans,  or  children  of  poverty.  To  go  on, 
at  such  a  rate,  of  course  involved  a  debt.  The  undersigned  had 
faith  in  God:  and,  merging  in  the  work  his  whole  resources  and  his 


20       . 

credit,  it  went  on.  As  prosperity  returned  to  the  country,  patronage 
flowed  in  upon  St.  Mary's  Hall.  And,  then,  success  became  embar- 
rassing. Buildings  were  to  be  erected,  and  fixtures  and  furniture 
were  to  be  supplied:  and,  to  do  this,  there  was  no  resource  but 
current  income,  or  pledge  of  credit.  Of  course,  the  debt  increased. 
To  provide  for  it,  paper  must  be  used.  To  be  procured,  it  must  be 
paid  for.  And,  then,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  its  discount  must  be 
had,  at  extra  cost.  A  perfect  confidence,  that  continued  success 
would  ensure  ultimate  relief,  encouraged  exertion ;  and  made  trials 
tolerable,  for  the  work's  sake,  which  no  personal  interest  would  have 
sustained,  one  week. 

The  acceptance  of  a  Christian  School  for  Girls  created  a  demand 
for  a  Christian  School  for  Boys.  In  1845,  special  circumstances 
seemed  to  indicate,  that  the  time  had  come  for  such  an  undertaking. 
A  movement  was  then  made,  for  a  school,  for  boys,  such  as  St.  Mary's 
Hall  already  was,  for  girls.  The  proposition  met  with  signal  favour. 
It  was  at  once  said,  "  Why  not  make  it  a  College  ?  The  time  is 
propitious.  At  any  rate,  procure  a  charter ;  and  use  it,  when  you 
are  ready!"  A  charter  was  procured.  A  site  was  purchased. 
The  pressure  of  patronage  forced  on  the  work,  beyond  its  time.  So 
that,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  the  Catalogue  enrolled  an  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  students..  There  was  no  endowment.  There  was 
no  monied  patronage.  Every  thing  was  to  be  done ;  and  nothing  to 
do  it  with.  Every  thing  was  done ;  and  done  with  nothing.  For 
what  was  a  subscription  of  $8000,  towards  the  grounds,  the  build- 
ings, the  fixtures,  the  furniture,  the  apparatus — the  entire  provision, 
religious,  scholastic  and  domestic — for  an  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
children,  and  the  whole  staff  of  teachers  ?  Nevertheless,  the  provi- 
sion was  made,  and  the  children  were  collected.  And  he,  who,  with 
God's  blessing,  had  accomplished  these  things,  after  two  most  dan- 
gerous attacks  of  illness,  which  confined  him  for  nearly  five  months, 
having  exhausted,  in  his  enterprize  for  Christian  education,  his 
means  and  his  credit,  was  left  with  two  most  prosperous  institutions, 
whose  annual  receipts  were  not  less  than  $70,000;  and,  with  an 
unmanageable  debt. 

When  the  undersigned  first  owned  the  mercy  of  Almighty  God,  in 
turning  back  his  face  and  feet  from  towards  the  grave,  his  instinctive 
impulse  was,  to  provide  for  the  reduction  of  this  indebtedness.  It 
was  well  established,  that,  if  the  two  institutions  were  subjected  to 
nothing  more  than  their  proper  expenditure — freed,  that  is  to  say, 


•      21 

from  the  disadvantages  of  a  credit  system  of  business,  and  of  an 
extravagant  outlay,  for  the  maintenance  of  credit — a  very  large  per- 
centage of  their  receipts,  after  paying  the  whole  cost  of  carrying 
them  on,  might  be  applied  to  that  object.  He  therefore  invited 
three  of  his  friends  to  accept  the  transfer  of  his  whole  interest  in 
both,  numbering  together,  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  pupils,  in 
trust,  to  secure  their  most  effective  and  economical  administration ; 
and,  then,  to  distribute  the  surplus  receipts,  from  time  to  time, 
among  the  Creditors  of  both :  he  himself  devoting  himself,  as  hereto- 
fore, and  more,  to  their  continuance  and  success ;  and  waiving  all 
claim  for  consideration  or  compensation,  till  every  form  of  indebted- 
ness should  be  extinguished.  At  two  large  meetings  of  the  persons 
chiefly  interested,  this  proposition  was  approved,  and  its  prosecution 
earnestly  recommended.  Ultimately,  however,  it  was  frustrated,  by 
the  refusal  of  two  or  three,  to  sign  the  necessary  agreement ;  not 
because  they  did  not  desire  that  it  should  be  carried  into  effect,  and 
believe  that  it  might  be  done  successfully ;  but,  from  expectations, 
unreasonably  entertained,  of  relief,  from  other  quarters.  At  a 
council  of  his  friends,  called  to  consider  what  should  be  done,  in  this 
state  of  affairs,  the  undersigned  was  unanimously  advised  to  make  an 
assignment  of  all  his  property,  for  the  benefit  of  all  his  Creditors ; 
and  to  arrange  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  institutions,  under  his 
own  conduct  and  supervision,  but  on  the  financial  responsibility  and 
business  direction  of  others,  as  before  proposed.  This  was  done. 
The  undersigned  gave  up  his  property,  of  every  form ;  to  meet,  so 
far  as  it  might,  a  debt,  not  personal  to  himself — his  private  income 
being  much  more  than  equal  to  his  private  expenditure — but  growing 
out  of  his  venture  for  Christian  education,  in  the  two  institutions 
above  named;  and  his  self-disregard,  to  serve  the  Church,  to  adorn 
and  dignify  his  native  State,  and  shed  the  light  of  Christian  learning, 
on  the  land. 

It  was  on  the  26th  day  of  March,  1849,  before  the  undersigned 
had  fully  left  the  house,  after  his  dangerous  and  distressing  illness, 
that  this  assignment  was  made.  A  brief  statement  of  the  circum- 
stances was  published,  with  his  name.  It  was  announced,  that  the 
two  institutions  would  open,  as  usual,  on  the  first  of  May,  ensuing, 
under  the  conduct  and  supervision  of  the  undersigned ;  the  business 
department,  at  St.  Mary's  Hall  to  be  under  the  charge  of  the 
Hon.  E.  B.  D.  Ogden,  J.  C.  Garthwaite,  Esq.,  and  Joel  W.  Condit, 
Esq. ;  and  that  at  the  College,  of  Judge  Ogden,  Mr.  Garthwaite, 


22 

and  R.  S.  Field,  Esq.  Mr.  Aertsen  to  be  the  fiscal  agent,  at  both 
institutions.  These  arrangements  were  duly  approved  and  autho- 
rized by  the  Trustees  of  the  College ;  who  undertook  also  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Hall :  and  the  one  opened  with  143  girls,  and  the  other 
with  127  boys. 

It  might  reasonably  have  been  supposed,  that  for  such  an  enter- 
prise, undertaken  in  a  spirit  so  disinterested,  carried  on  at  such  tre- 
mendous sacrifices,  and  sustained  through  such  disastrous  trials, 
patience  and  charity  would  be  permitted  to  have  their  perfect  work. 
The  Trustees  of  the  College,  twenty-four  in  number,  dispersed 
throughout  the  State,  had  given  the  assurance  of  their  confidence. 
The  four  gentlemen,  who  came  in  aid  of  the  undersigned,  in  the 
immediate  progress  of  the  work,  possessed  universal  respect  and 
reliance.  And  the  patronage  of  the  parents  and  guardians  of  270 
children,  entrusting,  to  the  undersigned  the  physical  care,  the  intel- 
lectual culture  and  the  moral  and  religious  training,  of  their  sons 
and  daughters,  afforded  such  a  guaranty  of  personal  estimation,  as  few 
have  ever  enjoyed.  One  would  have  thought,  that  the  whole  Church, 
with  one  consent,  would  have  united  their  petitions  to  Almighty 
God,  to  bless  a  work  so  tried  and  crowned  ;  and  lent  their  hearts, 
their  voices,  and  their  hands,  to  aid  in  its  advancement,  and  to  extend 
its  influence.  But  William  Halsted  was  a  member  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  diocese,  which,  on  the  30th  day  of  May,  a  month  from 
the  re-opening  of  these  sacred  institutions,  so  tried,  and  yet  so 
trusted,  met,  in  the  city  of  Burlington.  Its  first  act,  when  the 
organization  had  followed  the  Prayers,  the  Sermon,  and  the  Holy 
Communion,  was  the  unanimous  resolution,  that  the  senior  Presbyter 
of  the  diocese,  the  Rev.  John  Croes,  "  be  requested  to  offer  up  to 
Almighty  God,  the  public  thanksgiving  of  the  Church,  for  the 
happy  recovery  of  the  Right  Reverend  the  Bishop  of  this  diocese, 
from  a  recent  and  distressing  illness."  And,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day,  William  Halsted  offered  the  following  Preamble  and 
Resolution : 

"  Whereas,  a  Bishop  should  be  blameless,  and  should  have  a  good  report  of 
those  that  are  without,  lest  he  fall  into  reproach  ;  and,  whereas,  public  rumor, 
as  well  as  newspaper  publications,  have  made  serious  charges  against  our 
Bishop,  impeaching  his  moral  character,  tending  to  impair  his  usefulness,  and 
to  bring  the  church  of  which  he  is  Bishop  into  disrepute — therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed,  consisting  of  three  clergymen  and 
three  laymen,  who,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  make  such  inquiries  as  shall 
satisfy  them  of  the  innocency  of  the  accused,  or  of  the  sufficiency  of  ground  for 


23 

presentment  and  trial ;  and  that  they  do  make  report  to  this  Convention,  at  its 
present  session,  or  at  such  other  time  as  this  Convention  shall  designate." 

He  introduced  it,  with  a  preliminary  speech.  It  was  made  the 
subject  of  a  long  and  earnest  debate.  It  was  opposed  by  several 
members,  clerical  and  lay ;  and  supported  by  the  mover  :  and,  finally, 
at  about  9  o'clock,  the  Bishop  rose,  to  put  the  question,  on  the 
passage  of  the  resolution.  Mr.  Charles  King,  now  the  President  of 
Columbia  College  in  the  city  of  New  York,  records  the  issue  thus  : 

"  When,  after  a  few  brief,  touching,  steadily  uttered  sentences,* 
upon  the  extraordinary  and  trying  position  in  which  he  stood,  the 
Bishop  said,  '  All  who  are  in  favour  of  this  resolution  will  say  Aye 
— a  silence  deep  as  death  fell  upon  the  assembly — the  beating  of 
each  heart  was  audible — but  not  a  word  was  spoken.  No  solitary 
Aye  broke  this  awful  silence  !  The  mover  of  the  resolution  himself 
was  voiceless.  After  a  due  pause,  the  Bishop  again  spake — 'All 
opposed  to  this  resolution  will  say  No.'  Then  went  up,  as  if  with 
one  breath  and  from  one  heart,  such  a  negative,  as  no  one  could 
mistake  the  import  of.  Its  tone,  its  fervor,  its  sincerity,  were  signi- 
ficant, even  more  than  its  unanimity.  The  work  was  done ;  and 
after  finishing  some  formal  business,  the  Convention  adjourned.' 

When  it  is  considered,  that  the  Convention  sat  in  the  city  of  Bur- 
lington, where  the  "serious  charges"  against  the  Bishop,  if  they  had 
a  being,  must  have  been  most  current,  and  most  vigorous ;  where 
the  persons  and  the  papers,  to  supply  the  means  of  their  complete  au- 
thentication, if  they  could  at  all  be  authenticated,  were  present ;  and 
in  the  very  heart  of  whatever  disappointment,  disquietude,  murmur- 
ing, clamour,  condemnation,  an  event  so  disastrous  as  his  failure 
could  occasion  ;  and  that,  within  but  four  days  more  than  two  months, 
after  the  assignment  had  been  made,  what  more  complete  acquittal 


*  "Which  were  exactly  these  : — "  The  Convention  -will  bear  me  witness,  that 
during  the  almost  seventeen  years  of  my  Episcopate,  no  important  question  has 
been  considered  here,  on  which  I  have  not  expressed,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
the  convictions  of  my  judgment,  and  of  my  conscience.  That  the  question, 
now  before  the  Convention,  is  one  of  great  importance  to  the  diocese,  directly, 
as  well  as  indirectly,  through  me,  no  one  can  doubt.  But  it  is  a  question 
personal  to  myself.  And,  on  that  account,  I  depart  from  the  practice  of  my 
whole  official  life  ;  I  waive  the  claims  and  the  obligations  of  duty ;  I  almost 
disregard  my  solemn  consecration  vovrs — vows,  such  as  lie  on  none  of  you — 
and,  with  an  entire  and  perfect  unreserve,  without  a  word,  as  without  a  fear, 
submit  the  question,  to  God,  and  to  this  Convention." 


24 

of  all  blame,  than  this  result,  could  possibly  be  had  ?  And  when  can 
it  be  ever  claimed  that  a  Convention  has  done  all  its  will,  in  regard 
to  its  Bishop,  suspected  or  accused  of  wrong,  if  not  in  the  case,  thus 
stated  ?  The  undersigned  peremptorily  demands,  as  his  clear  right, 
that  in  his  case  the  Convention  of  his  diocese  has  set  forth,  in  the 
most  emphatic  way,  its  mind  and  will,  as  to  his  presentment,  not  only, 
for  any  of  the  offences  contemplated  by  William  Halsted,  in  the  resolu- 
tion cited  above ;  but  as  to  its  further  entertainment  of  them  :  and  that 
thus  the  canonical  right  of  any  three  Bishops,  to  make  presentment 
on  such  charges,  is  perfectly  estopped.  And  he  is  the  more  tenacious 
of  this  claim,  that,  at  neither  of  the  subsequent  Conventions  of  this 
diocese — that  at  Newark  in  May,  1850,  and  that  at  Burlington  in 
May,  1851 — the  slightest  intimation  was  expressed  of  any  doubtfulness, 
as  to  the  character  or  conduct  of  the  undersigned.  To  claim,  as  the 
three  Bishops  do,  that  when  a  Convention  refuses  to  institute  inquiries, 
the  subject  being  specifically  proposed,  deliberately  discussed,  and 
formally  disposed  of,  any  three  Bishops  may  override  its  will,  and 
make  presentment  of  its  Bishop ;  to  say,  as  they  have  ventured  to 
feel  bound  to  say,  "  that  no  mere  report  of  a  Committee,  or  vote  of 
a  Convention,  declaring  a  belief  of  innocency,  and  that  an  inquiry  is 
unnecessary,  will  suffice,"  is  quite  too  much  in  the  nature  of  a  Star- 
chamber  proceeding,  the  undersigned  must  hope,  to  find  any  coun- 
tenance, in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States 
of  America. 

The  undersigned  might  now  dismiss  this  subject.  The  Conven- 
tion of  the  diocese  of  New  Jersey,  the  highest  canonical  resort,  in 
a  proceeding  against  their  Bishop,  refuse  to  proceed ;  declare  their 
confidence,  in  him,  whose  going  out  and  coming  in,  they  have  observ- 
ed, for  twenty  years ;  and  regard,as  utterly  inconsistent,  with  their 
duty  to  him,  to  themselves,  and  to  their  God,  the  proposal  to  in- 
vestigate. There  is  no  door  opened,  by  which  three  Bishops  can 
come  in,  between  their  Bishop  and  themselves.  Men  shall  not  put 
asunder,  but  in  the  proper  form,  and  process  due,  of  law  ecclesiasti- 
cal, those  whom  God  hath  joined  together. 

But,  the  undersigned  is  not  disposed  to  leave  the  matter,  so.  He 
positively  denies,  that  the  progress  of  the  Church,  in  the  diocese  of 
New  Jersey,  has  been  impeded,  by  the  prevalence  of  any  rumours, 
of  disadvantage  to  his  character.  So  far  from  it,  the  diocese  of 
New  Jersey  has  gone  on,  steadily  and  constantly,  to  increase,  and 
advance,  through  the  whole  period  of  his  Episcopacy .  The  17 


25 

clergymen,  of  1833,  are  multiplied  by  four.  The  Missionary  income, 
of  the  Church,  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  has  been 
increased,  ten,  twelve,  and  fifteen  times.  The  last  list,  of  the 
parishes,  and  Missionary  stations,  furnished  to  the  Convention,  by 
Bishop  Croes,  enumerates  twenty-one ;  the  list,  presented  to  the  last 
Convention,  fifty-nine.  He  has  consecrated  forty-two  churches. 
The  largest  number  of  persons  confirmed,  in  any  year,  was  290 ; 
reported  to  the  Convention,  of  1850.  There  have,  already,  been 
confirmed,  since  the  last  Convention,  271 ;  leaving  the  Vernal 
Visitation,  yet  to  be  added.  The  number  of  communicants,  in  St. 
Mary's  Church,  has  more  than  been  decupled.  In  no  respect,  in  no 
instance,  has  the  undersigned  seen  the  slightest  reason  to  believe, 
that  his  influence,  for  good,  within  the  diocese,  has  been  impaired, 
by  any  thing  that  has  transpired,  within  the  last  three  years :  while, 
from  the  whole  Church,  not  only,  but  from  the-  secular  community, 
in  which  he  lives,  he  is  in  the  constant  experience,  of  marks  and 
tokens  of  respect  and  confidence,  which  overpower  him,  with  the 
sense  of  his  unworthiness. 

As  little  does  the  undersigned  admit  the  justice  of  the  complaints, 
of  the  four  laymen,  that  he  has  avoided,  or  has  not  invited,  an 
investigation ;  and  that  he  has  been  silent,  under  reproach.  He 
never  has  avoided  an  investigation.  On  the  day  before  the  resolution, 
introduced  by  William  Halsted,  he  was  told,  of  his  intention,  by  a 
friend,  who  had  endeavoured  to  prevent  it,  (Charles  King,  Esq., 
President  of  Columbia  College.)  His  answer  was,  "  That  must  not 
be.  Recal  whatever  you  have  said.  By  all  means,  let  him  have  his 
•way."  And  the  whole  Convention  will  bear  witness,  that  he 
never  said  one  word,  to  influence  their  decision.  Why  should  he 
invite  an  investigation  ?  He  was  satisfied,  with  his  own  sincerity, 
and  honesty.  His  diocese  was  satisfied.  The  Trustees  of  the 
College  were  satisfied.  The  patrons  of  St.  Mary's  Hall,  and 
Burlington  College,  were  satisfied.  His  parishioners  were  satisfied. 
His  friends,  every  where,  were  satisfied.  If  there  were  any,  that  were 
not,  it  was  for  them  to  move.  He  was  always  in  his  place.  They  did 
not  come  to  him.  Why  should  he  go  to  them  ?  He  stood  upon  the  deci- 
sion, of  the  Convention,  of  1849.  If  any  are  not  satisfied  with  that,  let 
them  remove  him  from  it,  if  they  can.  Why  should  he  not  keep  silence, 
under  reproach  ?  He  considered  who  reproached  him.  He  consid- 
ered how  they  did  it.  He  was  willing  to  let  Shimei  curse.  For  his 
silence,  he  had  David's  pattern  :  "  As  for  me,  I  was  like  a  deaf  man, 


26 

and  heard  not ;  and  as  one  that  is  dumb,  who  doth  not  open  his  mouth : 
I  became  even  as  a  man  that  heareth  not,  and  in  whose  mouth  are 
no  reproofs."  And  the  pattern  of  the  Lord  of  David,  "Who,  when 
He  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again  ;  when  He  suffered,  He  threatened 
not ;  but  committed  Himself  to  Him  that  judgeth  righteously."  Who 
•will  say,  that  he  was  ever,  heretofore,  so  charged,  that  he  could 
answer  ?  Who  will  say,  that,  now,  that  three  responsible  persons 
adopt  the  charges,  even  of  four,  and  they  such  charges,  he  has 
delayed  to  answer  ?  To  all,  and  singular,  though  false,  calumnious, 
and  malignant,  he  now  addresses  his  reply.  And  he  can  truly  say, 
with  the  three  holy  children,  to  the  king,  "  We  are  not  careful  to 
answer  thee,  in  this  matter."  To  such  charges,  so  sustained,  it  gives 
him  no  concern,  to  make  reply.  The  Lord  judge,  between  him,  and 

them,  who  have  so  shamefully  entreated  him ! 

* 

CHARGE  I. 
Obtaining  money  under  false  representations  or  false  promises. 

SPECIFICATION. 

lie  obtained  money,  amounting  to  $1000,  of  the  Kev.  Alfred  Stubbs,Treasurer 
of  the  "  Society  for  the  promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge  and  Piety,"  under  a 
representation  or  promise  that  he  •would  give  safe  and  ample  security  for  the 
same ;  and  he  has  not  returned  the  money  nor  given  security  therefor. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned,  when  on  the  visitation  of  a  portion  of  his 
diocese,  had  been  the  bearer  of  a  letter,  from  the  former  Treasurer 
of  "  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge  and 
Piety,"  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stubbs;  then  newly  appointed  to  that  office. 
As  afterwards  appeared,  it  contained  bank  notes,  for  one  thousand 
dollars  ;  being  so  much  of  the  funds  of  the  Society.  In  the  course 
of  his  visit,  Mr.  Stubbs  said  to  him,  that  he  had  that  money  ;  that 
he  did  not  know  what  was  best  to  do  with  it ;  that  if  it  would  be  of 
any  use  to  the  undersigned,  in  carrying  on  his  Institutions,  he  had 
rather  it  were  in  his  hands,  than  any  where  else ;  that  he  only 
wanted  customary  security.  The  undersigned  hesitated ;  but  re- 
ceived it.  As  had  been  done,  in  other  cases,  a  bond,  with  warrant 
of  Attorney,  was  given.  In  the  other  cases,  judgment  was  entered, 
when  the  difficulties  came  on  ;  and  the  money  paid.  It  would  have 
been  so,  in  this ;  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stubbs,  at  the  time,  was  absent, 
from  the  country.  An  arrangement  has  been  made,  through  an- 


27 

other,  by  which  Mr.  Stubbs  is  protected  from  loss.  It  may  be 
confidently  asserted,  that  no  such  view  of  the  subject,  as  the  four 
laymen  attempt  to  give,  has  ever  presented  itself  to  Mr.  Stubbs. 
It  may  also  be  said,  that  to  adopt  that  view  would  be  fatal  to  the 
character  of  every  merchant,  banker  or  other  person,  who  has  ever 
made  a  loan,  "on  call ;"  and  failed,  while  the  money  was  in  posses- 
sion. 

*„<*  The  undersigned,  in  replying  to  this  first  Charge,  takes 
occasion,  once  for  all,  to  say,  that,  in  making  these  replies,  he  is 
conscious,  as  must  be  apparent  to  every  one,  that  he  does  so,  at 
great  disadvantage :  from  the  lapse  of  time — three,  five,  seven,  or 
fifteen  years — since  the  occurrence  of  some  of  the  transactions  or 
the  measures  which  led  to  them ;  the  principal  in  these  transactions, 
without  experience  in  business  operations,  and  with  the  bent  of  his 
mind  and  course  of  his  life,  in  an  entirely  different  channel;  and 
unaided,  in  his  discharge  of  them,  and  in  the  exertions  which  grew 
out  of  them,  by  the  customary  means  and  appliances,  which  Com- 
merce has  devised,  and  by  which  commercial  persons  are  assisted 
and  sustained.  Nevertheless,  as  nothing  was  ever  done,  but  in 
good  faith,  he  has  no  apprehension  as  to  the  satisfaction  which  his 
answers  will  afford  to  faithful  men.  To  any  others,  no  replies  could' 
ever  be  satisfactory. 

CHARGE  II. 

Inducing  individuals  to  endorse  promissory  notes  for  him  by  false  repre- 
sentations and  false  promises. 

SPECIFICATION. 

He  induced  Michael  Hays  to  endorse  notes  for  him  from  time  to  time  during 
the  years  1847,  1848,  and  1849,  until  his  endorsements  amounted  to  a  sum 
exceeding  twenty-nine  thousand  dollars,  by  representing  to  said  Michael  Hays 
that  he  was  solvent  and  able  to  pay  his  debts,  when  he  knew  at  the  time  that 
he  was  insolvent  and  unable  to  pay  his  debts. 

REPLY. 

Michael  Hays  was  liberally  paid,  for  every  endorsement.  He 
is  said  to  have  admitted,  that  he  did  not  desire  to  do  a  better 
business,  than  endorse  for  Bishop  Doane ;  and,  that,  if  he  was 
never  paid  any  more,  he  should  lose  nothing,  or  not  much.  The 
undersigned  never  represented  himself  to  Michael  Hays  as  sol- 
vent, or  able  to  pay  his  debts.  For  twelve  years,  nearly,  he  kept 
all  his  large  and  various  engagements.  He  relied,  for  ultimate 


28 

relief,  on  the  increasing  income  of  the  institutions ;  which  did  not 
disappoint  him  :  and  on  contributions  from  the  Churchmen  of  the 
diocese,  and  elsewhere,  to  relieve  him,  of  the  burden  of  his  outlay, 
for  permanent  improvements,  at  the  College.  He  had  a  just  claim 
to  this  relief.  It  was  promised  to  him,  again  and  again.  It  was, 
as  often,  deferred.  It  never  came.  Hence,  his  embarrassments. 
And,  hence,  his  failure 

CHARGE  III. 

Taking  the  sum  of  $7,476.51  of  the  monies  belonging  to  the  Episcopal 
funds  of  the  Diocese,  without  the  authority,  knowledge  or  consent  of  the 
Convention. 

SPECIFICATION. 

He  induced  the  Rev.  Reuben  J.  Germain,  the  Treasurer  of  the  Convention, 
(who  had  given  no  security  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty,  and  was 
unable  to  respond  to  the  Convention  for  a  loss  of  said  fund,)  to  sell  out  good 
Stocks,  and  Bonds  and  Mortgages,  (bearing  an  interest,)  belonging  to  the  Con- 
vention, and  to  loan  the  proceeds  of  said  sale  to  said  Bishop  Doane,  upon  his 
own  notes  without  security. 

REPLY. 

He  never  induced  the  Treasurer  of  the  Convention  to  sell  out  good 
Stocks,  Bonds  and  Mortgages,  to  loan  the  proceeds  of  said  sale  to 
him.  There  were  never  any  Mortgages  belonging  to  the  Episcopal 
Fund.  No  sale  of  any  part  of  it  was  ever  made,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  loaned  to  the  undersigned.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Germain  will  testi- 
fy to  these  statements.  Money  was  paid  in,  from  time  to  time,  by 
subscribers.  Stocks  which  were  depreciating,  and  likely  to  grow 
worse,  and  bonds  which  were  of  doubtful  tenure,  were  sold.  The 
undersigned  was  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  Church.  He  needed 
large  sums  of  money,  for  the  purpose.  The  Treasurer  lent  him 
his  uninvested  funds,  temporarily,  on  his  notes.  He  had  a  prece- 
dent for  this,  before  the  Episcopate  of  the  undersigned.  The  notes 
of  the  undersigned  were  always  submitted,  with  the  other  vouchers  to 
the  Committee,  annually  appointed,  to  examine  the  Treasurer's  ac- 
counts. No  objection  to  the  investment  was  ever  made ;  to  the  un- 
dersigned, or  to  the  Treasurer.  It  was  considered  safe.  And  it  has 
been  perfectly  secured :  as  a  Committee  of  the  Convention  of  1850 
have  reported. 


29 

CHARGE  IV. 
Swearing  rashly  and  unadvisedly  in  regard  to  the  value  of  his  property. 

SPECIFICATION. 

In  the  affidavit  annexed  to  the  Inventory  of  his  property,  (attached  to  his 
assignment,)  taken  before  John  Rodgers,  Master  in  Chancery,  on  the  29th 
March,  A.  D.,  1849,  the  said  George  W.  Doane  deposed  and  swore,  "that  the 
above  (meaning  the  said  Inventory)  was  a  true  and  perfect  Inventory  of  all  his 
real  and  personal  estate,  together  with  the  value  thereof,"  when  in  truth  and  in 
fact,  the  said  Inventory  did  not  contain  the  true  value  of  very  many  of  the  arti- 
cles of  property  therein  enumerated.  It  did  not  contain  the  true  value  of  the 
real  estate  therein  enumerated.  It  did  not  contain  the  true  value  of  the  several 
articles  of  furniture,  household  goods,  &c.,  in  St.  Mary's  Hall.  It  did  not  con- 
tain the  true  value  of  the  several  articles  of  furniture,  household  goods,  &c.,  in 
Burlington  College.  It  did  not  contain  a  true  valuation  of  the  articles  of  furni- 
ture, household  goods,  &c.,  at  Riverside. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned  denies  that  he  swore  "rashly  and  unadvisedly, 
in  regard  to  the  value  of  his  property."  The  decision  to  make  the 
assignment  was  adopted  by  him,  with  the  advice  of  several  gentlemen, 
who  hold  the  very  highest  place  in  the  confidence  of  the  community. 
The  obvious  aim  was  to  prevent  a  few  of  the  creditors,  who  might 
rush  in  upon  the  property,  from  taking  more  than  their  share  of  that 
which  belonged  proportionally  to  all.  The  Assignees  were  Gr.  S. 
Cannon,  Esq.,  and  Robert  B.  Aertsen,  Esq.  The  former  of  them, 
now,  the  Prosecutor  of  the  Pleas  in  Burlington  county.  The  other,  an 
accomplished  and  experienced  Merchant.  The  undersigned  referred 
the  whole  subject  entirely  to  their  judgment ;  and  was  guided,  in  eve- 
ry thing,  by  their  advice.  They  were  the  appraisers  of  the  Real 
Estate,  unaided  and  uninfluenced  by  him.  They  prepared  the  Inven- 
tory, to  which  by  their  direction  he  affixed  his  name.  At  their  in- 
stance, the  oath  administered  to  him  was  taken.  He  uniformly  de- 
clared to  them  and  to  all  his  advisers,  at  the  time,  that  he  had  no 
other  wish  but  that  every  thing  should  be  done  faithfully  and  justly ; 
for  the  interest  of  his  Creditors,  and  for  the  success  of  the  Institu- 
tions. From  these,  it  was  his  hope,  that  the  ability  would  be  reali- 
zed, to  discharge  all  his  debts.  And  he  has  constantly  said,  and 
now  repeats  rt,  and  records  it,  that  whatever  the  construction  of  the 
law  may  be,  he  must  ever  hold  himself  a  debtor ;  until  every  dollar 
of  every  claim  be  fully  paid,  in  principal  and  interest.  So  far,  for  the 
denial  of  rash  and  unadvised  swearing ;  and  of  the  existence  of  any 
motive  for  it. 


30 

Now,  as  to  the  allegations  in  the  Charge  and  Specification.  The 
claim  they  make,  is,  that  the  property  was  undervalued.  The  value 
of  Real  Estate,  situated  as  this  was,  is  purely  a  matter  of  opinion. 
It  was  valued  by  the  Assignees  themselves,  after  consultation  with 
several  persons  acquainted  with  the  property ;  and  the  best  evidence 
that  they  were  well  advised,  is  that,  six  months  after  'the  assignment 
was  made,  all  this  property  was  exposed  at  public  sale,  open  to  com- 
petition from  every  quarter;  and  brought  precisely  the  price  at 
which  it  was  valued.  The  personal  property  at  St.  Mary's  Hall  and 
Burlington  College,  had  been  appraised  for  another  purpose,  as 
stated  in  a  previous  portion  of  the  Reply,  some  weeks  before  the  As- 
signment, by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Germain  and  Bradin,  respectively ;  and 
again  revised  by  them,  and  by  the  Assignees,  at  the  time ;  and  such 
value  put  upon  it  as  they  honestly  believed  to  be  correct.  The  last 
named  persons  alone  appraised  the  property,  at  Riverside.  At  the 
day  of  sale,  the  house  was  crowded  with  company ;  many  of  whom 
were  bidders :  and  it  is  the  conscientious  conviction  of  those  who  had 
no  interest  in  the  result,  that,  had  the  competition  of  Mr.  Edward 
N.  Perkins,  who  purchased  most  of  it  for  his  mother,  and  that  of  the 
other  gentlemen  and  the  Trustees  been  withdrawn,  the  property  would 
not,  in  the  aggregate,  have  brought  near  the  price,  that  it  did  sell 
for.  But  the  charge  of  fraud,  here,  is  gratuitous,  if  not  absurd. 
The  temptation  in  such  cases  is  to  exaggerate,  not  to  depreciate,  the 
value  of  property.  No  one  seeks  to  make  his  case  worse  than  it 
really  is.  By  a  higher  estimate,  it  must  be  seen,  at  once,  that  the 
contrast,  subsequently  drawn  between  the  amount  of  debts  and  the 
value  of  property,  must  have  been  greatly  relieved.  But,  then,  the 

charge  would  have  been,  that  the  property  was  overrated, 
i 

CHARGE  V. 

Swearing  falsely  as  to  the  list  of  his  creditors,  and  the  amount  of  the  debts  due 
to  them  respectively. 

SPECIFICATION  1. 

The  said  George  "VV.  Doane,  did  on  the  29th  day  of  March,  1849,  before  John 
Ilodgers,  Master  in  Chancery  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  swear  and  depose  that 
a  certain  list  of  creditors,  which  preceded  the  said  affidavit,  and  to  which  said 
list  the  said  affidavit  was  attached,  was  "  a  true  and  perfect  list  of  his  creditors 
with  the  amounts  severally  due  to  them  as  far  as  he  had  been  able  to  ascertain 
according  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge."  When  the  said  George  W.  Doane  well 
knew  that  the  said  list  was  not  a  true,  full  and  perfect  list  of  his  creditors,  and 
of  the  amounts  severally  due  to  them,  and  that  the  same  was  untrue  in  the  fol- 
lowing particulars. 


31 

REPLY. 

The  effrontery,  of  this  Charge,  almost  puts  its  falsehood,  out  of 
countenance.  How,  do  these  persons  know,  that  the  undersigned, 
"  well  knew,"  that  the  list,  alluded  to,  was  not  a  full,  and  perfect 
list  ?  Can  they  discern  the  heart  ?  The  statement,  which  follows, 
drawn  up,  by  Mr.  Aertsen,  who  best  could  do  it,  will  show,  that  it 
truly  was,  "  according  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge." 

The  remarks,  which  were  made,  under  Charge  IV.,  as  to  the 
reliance,  on  which  the  Affidavit  was  made,  apply  as  well  to  this. 
The  list  was  made  out,  and  presented  to  him,  by  those  who  had  no 
interest  to  misrepresent ;  and  were  sworn  to  do  right.  All  had 
been  done,  to  make  it  correct,  that  time,  and  opportunity,  permitted. 

In  regard  to  both  the  Affidavits,  the  undersigned  expressly  asked, 
if  the  oath  was  peremptory,  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  statements ; 
and  was  told,  it  meant,  according  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge. 
According  to  that,  he  swore. 

"  The  list  of  debts,  was  made  out  by  R.  B.  Aertsen,  from  the 
best  data,  in  his  possession.  He  had  come  to  Burlington,  in 
February,  1849,  at  the  request  of  the  Bishop,  who  had  been  confined 
to  a  sick  bed,  since  the  November  previous ;  had  been,  more  than 
once,  considered  past  recovery ;  and  was,  at  that  time,  in  so  precari- 
ous a  state,  that  often,  days  would  elapse,  that  he  could  not  be 
consulted.  He  had  spent  more  than  a  month,  in  getting,  into  some 
kind  of  order,  a  business  which  had  become  almost  hopelessly 
perplexed.  During  this  long  illness,  papers  were  lost,  or  mislaid, 
notes  had  been  renewed,  and  new  ones  made,  without  being  recorded : 
and  there  is  not  a  doubt,  that  many  were  settled  by  the  Bishop, 
which  have  never  come  back,  into  his  hands,  in  consequence  of  the 
unlimited  confidence,  which  he  was  accustomed  to  place  in  every  one 
with  whom  he  had  dealings.  New  debts  were  contracted,  in  carrying 
on  the  two  Institutions ;  with  the  particulars  of  which,  he  could  not, 
possibly,  be  acquainted.  Unhappily,  no  regular  system  of  book- 
keeping had  been  adopted,  at  either  Institution  :  so  that,  in  making 
the  statement,  (and  it  is  proper  to  say,  that,  at  that  time, 
the  necessity  for  an  assignment,  was  not  contemplated,)  recourse 
was  obliged  to  be  had,  to  every  quarter,  for  information ;  and,  in 
almost  every  case  of  an  open  account,  it  was  furnished,  by  the 
creditor  himself.  Every  assistance,  which  the  Bishop  could  give,  in 
his  then  weak  state,  was  given.  Daily  messages  would  be  received 
that  such  an  one  was  a  Creditor.  Sometimes,  the  amount  would  be 


named.  But,  most  generally,  that  was  not  possible.  It  had  to  be 
sought  elsewhere.  And,  when  all  this  is  considered,  the  wonder  is, 
not  that  some  debts  were  omitted,  but  that  so  many  were  remembered. 
Statements,  were  obtained,  from  the  several  Banks,  and  individuals, 
with  whom  paper  had  been  negotiated ;  and,  every  conceivable  mode 
adopted,  to  make  it  as  perfect  as  possible.  This  list,  was  prepared 
for,  and  laid  before,  a  meeting  of  Creditors,  called  for  the  purpose, 
of  effecting  an  arrangement;  by  which  the  Institutions  might  be 
carried  on,  without  interruption.  That  arrangement  failed ;  and 
an  assignment  became  unavoidable.  But,  although  all  the  large 
Creditors,  were  at  that  meeting,  and  this  list  was  before  them,  its 
correctness,  was  not  called  in  question ;  and,  therefore,  the  presump- 
tion was,  that  it  was  as  nearly  correct  as  possible." 

R.  B.  A. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

The  list  did  not  set  forth  the  name  of  the  Episcopal  Convention  of  the  Diocese, 
or  the  Treasurer  of  the  said  Convention,  or  the  Episcopal  Fund  as  a  creditor  of 
the  said  George  W.  Doane  for  any  amount  of  money.  It  did  not  state  that  he 
was  indebted  to  the  Episcopal  Fund,  or  to  the  Convention,  or  to  Mr.  Germain, 
Treasurer  thereof,  for  the  sum  of  $7,476.51,  or  any  other  sum  of  money  due  to 
the  said  Convention,  or  to  the  Treasurer  thereof.  And  that  Michael  Hays  was 
in  said  list  designated  as  a  creditor  to  the  amount  of  $17,500,  when  the  said 
Michael  Hays  was  a  creditor  to  the  amount  of  $29,000  and  upwards. 

REPLY. 

It  has  been  stated,  under  the  foregoing  Specification,  how  the  list 
of  Creditors  was  made  out ;  and,  under  what  disadvantages.  The 
matter  of  the  Episcopal  Fund,  was  not  regarded,  as  an  ordinary 
debt ;  and  the  purpose,  from  the  first,  was  entertained,  to  provide 
for  it,  distinctly.  This  has  been  done,  by  the  undertaking  of  another  ; 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Convention  :  as  will  be  found,  in  the 
Journal,  for  1850.  Nevertheless,  a  memorandum  of  it  was  sent  in  to 
Mr.  Aertsen ;  though,  as  it  proved,  too  late,  to  be  included  in 
the  list. 

As  to  the  discrepancy,  in  the  amount  of  indebtedness,  to  Michael 
Hays,  the  list  was  made  out,  not  by  the  undersigned,  but  by  Mr. 
Aertsen,  as  he  best  could,  without  his  help :  from  his  note-book  ; 
from  the  books  of  the  several  banks  at  which  discounts  were  had ; 
and  from  the  memoranda  of  the  broker,  by  whom,  for  the  most  part, 
they  were  negotiated.  The  difference,  as  stated,  is  great.  But,  it 
must  be  remembered,  that  neither  party  kept  accurate  lists.  And, 


33 

beside,  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  notes  must  have  fallen  due, 
and  been  renewed,  during  the  five  months'  illness  of  the  undersigned ; 
of  which  he  could  have  little  cognizance.  There  was  no  motive,  to 
any  fraudulent  statement :  since  it  was  certain  to  be  corrected,  by 
the  notes,  themselves. 

SPECIFICATION  3. 

He  placed  on  said  list  the  name  of  Joseph  Deacon  as  a  creditor  to  the  amount 
of  $23,480  only,  whereas,  the  said  Joseph  Deacon  was  at  the  time  a  creditor  to 
an  amount  exceeding  $30,000. 

REPLY. 

Joseph  Deacon,  like  Michael  Hays,  endorsed,  for  the  undersigned, 
extensively ;  and  received  a  consideration,  for  it.  The  notes  were 
obtained,  when  needed ;  and  neither  party  kept  any  list.  The  state- 
ment, in  the  assignment,  in  this  case,  was  made  out  under  the  same 
disadvantages,  as  that  of  Michael  Hays.  And  the  maturity  of  many 
of  the  notes,  and  their  substitution  by  others,  during  the  illness  of 
the  undersigned,  would  expose  the  matter  to  much  additional  diffi- 
culty. The  discrepancy  is  large :  but  the  circumstances  were  pecu- 
liar. The  statement  could  in  no  way  injure  Mr.  Deacon,  nor  benefit 
the  undersigned. 

SPECIFICATION  4. 

He  stated  in  his  list  of  debts  that  there  are  sundry  notes,  whose  endorsers  are 
uncertain,  amounting  to  $4,447.36,  but  he  does  not  specify  who  are  the  credi- 
tors or  holders  of  said  notes  ;  or  the  amount  of  said  notes  respectively. 

REPLY. 

The  notes  endorsed  by  Hays  and  Deacon  were,  for  the  most  part, 
discounted,  by  a  broker.  The  undersigned  seldom  knew,  by  whom 
the  money  was  furnished.  Of  what  other  use,  this  specification  is, 
than  to  swell  the  number,  it  is  difficult  to  see.  There  could  have 
been  no  objection  to  stating  the  names,  had  they  been  known.  Not 
to  know  them  is  scarcely  culpable ;  surely,  not  fraudulent. 

SPECIFICATION  5. 

He  states  in  his  list  of  debts  sundry  notes  endorsed  by  R.  J.  Germain,  negotia- 
ted by  F.  Woolman  for  $1,983.25,  and  yet  he  does  not  tell  who  are  the  credi- 
tors or  holders  of  these  notes,  or  the  amount  thereof  respectively. 

REPLY. 

This  seems  to  be  another  item,  inserted  for  the  sake  of  number. 

3 


34 

The  undersigned  did  not  know  the  particulars,  alluded  to.  Of  what 
importance  could  it  be,  that  they  should  be  known  ?  How  can  the 
ignorance  of  them,  or  the  omission  to  state  them,  be  charged,  as 
fraud  ? 

SPECIFICATION  6. 

He  omits  to  place  on  his  list  of  creditors  the  name  of  H.  R.  Cleveland,  who 
he  well  knew  was  at  the  time  a  creditor  in  trust  for  the  sum  of  $15,000. 

REPLY. 

What  shall  this  assertion  be  called?  The  indebtedness  to  the 
estate  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  in  trust,  is  acknowledged,  in  the  Schedule  of 
the  Real  Estate,  which  forms  part  of  the  assignment.  It  has  been 
on  record,  in  the  public  office,  at  Mount  Holly,  for  nearly  three 
years ;  and  accessible  to  all.  Peter  V.  Coppuck  lives  at  Mount 
Holly.  William  Halsted  is  frequently,  if  not  constantly,  there,  at 
the  Burlington  Courts.  Caleb  Perkins  and  Bennington  Gill  are 
both  within  two  hours  of  it.  And,  yet,  they  unite,  in  declaring  that 
the  debt  is  not  acknowledged :  and,  that,  in  a  document  designed  to 
procure  the  presentment  of  their  Bishop.  They  make  the  assertion, 
knowing  it  to  be  false  ;  or  else  without  taking  the  slightest  pains  to 
know  if  it  was  true.  In  so  solemn  a  transaction,  the  difference  is 
small.  "  Acting,"  they  say,  "  in  the  spirit  of  the  26th  Article  of 
our  religion,  which  declares  that  it  appertaineth  to  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  that  inquiry  be  made  of  evil  Ministers,  and  they  be 
accused  by  them  that  have  knowledge  of  their  offences,  we  felt 
ourselves  called  upon  to  make  such  an  investigation  into  the  nature 
and  truth  of  these  charges  as  to  perform  our  duty :  AND  UPON  SUCH 
INVESTIGATION,  we  are  compelled,"  &c.  An  investigation  which  did 
not  go  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  assignment !  Or,  else,  a  wilful  mis- 
statement  of  its  contents ! 

SPECIFICATION  7. 

He  omits  to  place  on  his  list  of  creditors  the  name  of  William  Chester,  who 
he  well  knew  was  a  creditor  to  the  amount  of  $800. 

REPLY. 

This  indebtedness  is  also  stated  in  the  schedule,  which  forms  part 
of  the  Assignment.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  this,  as  to  the  pre- 
ceding Specification. 


35 

SPECIFICATION  8. 

He  omits  to  place  on  the  list  of  his  creditors  the  name  of  Sarah  C.  Robardett, 
who,  he  well  knew  (at  the  time  he  made  his  affidavit  attached  to  said  list)  was 
a  creditor  of  his  to  the  amount  of  $3000. 

REPLY. 

This  indebtedness  is  also  stated  in  the  schedule,  which  forms  part 
of  the  Assignment.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  this,  as  to  the  two 
preceding  specifications. 

SPECIFICATION  9. 

He  omits  to  place  on  his  list  of  creditors  the  names  of  I.  B.  Parker,  and  other 
Trustees,  to  whom  he  knew  (at  the  time  he  made  said  affidavit)  that  he  was 
indebted  in  the  sum  of  $10,800. 

REPLY. 

This  indebtedness  is  also  stated  in  the  schedule,  which  forms  part 
of  the  assignment.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  this,  as  to  the  three 
preceding  specifications.  The  rule,  in  regard  to  testimony  is, 
"  Falsus  in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus."  What  an  illustration 
of  it! 

SPECIFICATION  10. 

He  omits  to  state  the  amount  of  debts  due  to  several  of  his  creditors,  respec- 
tively, or  states  the  amount  as  being  much  less  than  he  knew  it  to  be,  at  the 
time  he  made  the  affidavit. 

REPLY. 

How  does  this  agree  with  the  rule  of  common  justice  and  of  com- 
mon sense;  which  requires,  in  all  "specifications,"  "reasonable 
certainty,  as  to  time,  place  and  circumstance  ?"  To  what  end, 
such  a  specification ;  but  to  make  a  show,  by  numbers  ? 

CHARGE  VI. 

Wilfully  contracting  large  debts  without  any  reasonable  prospect  of  being 
able  to  pay  them. 

SPECIFICATION  1. 

Contracting  debts  to  an  amount  exceeding  $250,000,  when  his  whole  estate, 
real  and  personal,  according  to  his  own  valuation,  under  oath,  does  not  amount 
to  one  half  that  sum. 

REPLY. 

The  first  remark,  in  connection  with  this  specification,  is,  that, 
of  this  $250,000,  the  real  estate  of  the  undersigned  stood  for 


36 

$100,000.  The  objection  raised,  then,  lies  against  the  floating 
debt,  of  $150,000.  In  regard  to  that,  it  may  be  remarked,  that, 
if  every  one  carrying  on  a  large  business,  requiring  the  use  of  large 
sums  of  money,  were  measured  by  the  rule  which  is  here  applied, 
no  one  could  stand,  a  day.  Granted,  that  the  whole  estate  of  the 
undersigned  did  not  amount  to  one-half  of  his  debts.  Was  that  all, 
that  he  had  to  rely  upon  ?  Are  two  flourishing  [Institutions  to 
count  for  nothing  ?  He  had  passed  through  the  fiery  part  of  his 
trial.  Institutions  of  such  character,  could  not  be  established 
without  a  large  outlay  of  money  in  the  beginning.  The  period 
of  comparative  loss  had  gone  by.  Consider  the  situation  of  these 
Schools,  at  that  time.  St.  Mary's  Hall,  during  the  winter  term  of 
1848-9,  (when  the  undersigned  was  prostrated  by  illness,)  contained 
159  pupils,  and  Burlington  College,  127.  There  are  no  means  available 
by  which  the  net  profits  of  this  term  can  be  accurately  shown  ;  but 
the  results  of  the  following  term  are  known ;  and  furnish  the  basis 
of  what  is  very  near  to  a  certainty.  During  the  summer  of  1849, 
St.  Mary's  Hall  contained  144  pupils,  and  the  net  profits  of  that 
term  were  -  $5.040  69 

Now,  every  one  knows,  that  after  the  receipts  exceed 
the  expenditures,  the  cost  of  every  additional  pupil 
rapidly  diminishes.  So  that,  at  the  period  under  consi- 
deration, we  may  safely  estimate  the  profit,  on  the  latest 
comers,  as  at  least  one-half  of  the  term  charges :  the 
difference  between  144  and  159  is  15. — 15x75  (Jterm 
charges)  -  -  1.125  00 

$6.165  69 

Burlington  College  then  contained  124  pupils,  and 
the  profits  were  $3.365  18.  An  addition  of  3  pupils 
would  give,  as  the  profits  of  the  previous  term  -  3.590  18 

Showing  the  profits  of  the  two,  together,  per  term  -     $9.755  87 

Being  a  total  annual  surplus  of  nearly  Twenty  Thousand  Dollars. 
There  is  not  a  doubt,  that,  had  the  undersigned  retained  his  health 
uninterrupted,  and  been  permitted  to  carry  on  his  work  unmolested, 
the  number  of  pupils  would  have  increased,  rather  than  diminished ; 
and  he  might,  under  the  new  arrangements,  then  in  progress, 
have  raised  this  amount  to  $25,000  per  annum.  Let  any  honest 
person  look  at  this  statement,  which  the  books  of  the  two  Institutions 


37 

confirm,  in  every  figure  of  it :  and  judge,  then,  as  to  the  value  of 
this  charge. 

The  amount  of  the  debt  was  large:  made  much  larger  than  it 
ought  to  have  been,  by  the  cost  of  procuring  money,  and  the  dis- 
advantage of  purchasing  on  credit ;  to  say  nothing  of  various  forms 
of  imposition.  But  it  was  not  so  large,  that  a  few  years  would  not 
have  reduced  it  to  a  manageable  amount ;  and  a  reasonable  period 
of  success  extinguished  it. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

Contracting  debts  to  an  amount  of  upwards  of  $150,000,  (over  and  beyond  the 
amount  of  his  mortgage  debts,)  when  his  personal  estate,  according  to  his  own 
valuation,  under  oath,  amounted  to  only  $17,418  56. 

REPLY. 

The  only  real  difference,  between  this,  and  the  former  specifica- 
tion, is  the  omission  of  the  indebtedness,  chargeable  on  the  Real  Es- 
tate. It  should  have  stood  in  the  place  of  that.  The  remarks,  made 
in  regard  to  that,  dispose  of  this. 

CHARGE  VII. 

Drawing  checks  on  banks,  (in  which  bank  at  the  time  he  knew  he  had  no 
money  to  pay  said  check)  and  delivering  said  checks  to  individuals  as  good,  or 
in  payment  of  their  demands  against  him. 

REPLY. 

There  were  several  Banks  in  New  Jersey,  at  which  special  friends 
of  the  undersigned,  and  of  his  work,  were  influential — in  many  cases, 
as  Presidents,  and  Cashiers — on  which,  he  was  permitted  to  draw 
short  drafts,  from  time  to  time  ;  to  be  discounted  and  placed  to  his 
credit.  At  their  maturity,  they  were  duly  met.  This  was  an  indul- 
gence granted  to  the  undersigned,  by  those  who  had  an  interest  in 
his  work ;  and  were  willing,  in  this  way,  to  assist  him  in  its  prosecu- 
tion. He  drew  no  other  checks,  but  in  connexion  with  his  discounts, 
on  any  Bank,  but  that  in  Burlington ;  in  which  he  kept  his  account. 

CHARGE  VIII. 

Practising  deception  upon  creditors  and  other  persons,  by  giving  or  sending 
them  checks  on  banks  (in  which  he  knew  at  the  time  he  had  no  money)  in  pay- 
ment of  demands  against  him.  And  when  informed  that  the  bank  on  which 
said  checks  were  drawn  refused  payment  of  the  same,  neglecting  to  pay  said 
checks. 


SPECIFICATION  L 

He  drew  his  check  upon  the  Burlington  Bank,  and  sent  it  to  the  Princeton 
Bank,  or  one  of  the  officers  thereof,  to  pay  a  note  of  his  which  was  due  at  said 
bank,  and  on  which  said  note  there  was  a  responsible  endorser ;  and  the  officer 
of  the  Princeton  bank,  relying  in  full  confidence  upon  the  payment  of  the 
said  check  by  the  Burlington  Bank,  neglected  to  protest  the  said  note,  and 
thereby  discharged  the  endorser ;  and  the  said  George  W.  Doane  being  informed 
that  the  said  check  was  unpaid,  neglected  to  pay  any  part  of  the  same  for  a  long 
time  thereafter :  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  amount  remains  unpaid  to  the 
present  day. 

REPLY. 

The  circumstantialness  of  this  specification  will  not  supply  its  lack 
of  truth.  Its  points  are :  that  a  note  had  been  discounted,  at  the 
Princeton  Bank  ;  that,  it  had  a  responsible  endorser ;  that,  when  it 
fell  due,  it  was  paid  by  a  check  on  the  Burlington  Bank ;  that  it  was, 
therefore,  not  protested  ;  that  the  endorser  was,  so,  discharged ;  that 
the  check  on  the  Burlington  Bank  was  refused,  for  want  of  funds ; 
and  the  payment  of  the  check,  for  a  long  time,  neglected  ;  and,  then, 
made  in  part.  Now,  there  was  no  note.  There  was  no  separate  en- 
dorser. There  was  no  payment,  by  a  check.  There  was  thus,  for 
two  reasons,  no  discharge  of  the  endorser.  There  was  no  refusal  of 
a  check  on  the  Burlington  Bank.  There  was  a  protest.  The  only 
truth,  to  all  these  falsehoods  is,  that  the  amount  was  paid,  in  part. 
This  was  the  case.  One  of  the  short  drafts,  alluded  to  under  charge 
VII,  was  drawn,  on  the  undersigned,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Germain ;  who 
was  for  a  long  time  closely  associated  in  the  business  operations,  in 
which  he  was  engaged.  It  was  accepted  by  the  undersigned,  and 
discounted  at  the  Princeton  Bank.  Being  unpaid,  at  maturity,  it 
was  duly  protested.  The  payment  of  a  third  part  of  it,  at  a  subse- 
quent date,  is  acknowledged  on  the  draft.  Why  did  these  guardians 
of  "the  26th  Article  of  our  religion"  ascertain  just  enough,  to 
make  the  basis  of  a  falsehood  ;  and  not  enough  to  state  the  truth  ? 
How  is  it  to  be  reconciled  with  their  assertion  that  they  had  made 
"such  an  investigation,"  as  "to  enable"  them  "to  perform"  their 
"duty?"  The  occurrence,  which  the  undersigned  is  thus  called  on, 
under  such  circumstances,  to  explain,  is  nearly  four  years  old. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

Drawing  checks  on  the  Burlington  Bank  (when  he  had  no  money  in  said 
bank)  and  after  he  had  been  told  by  an  officer  of  said  bank  that  he  must  not 
draw  checks  on  said  bank  when  he  had  no  money  there. 


39 

REPLY. 

The  only  ground  of  this  false  allegation  is  the  habit  of  the  under- 
signed, to  make  his  account  good,  every  day,  at  3  o'clock.  Checks, 
which  came  in,  in  the  early  part  of  the  day,  would  often  be  unprovided 
for,  at  that  time.  Provision  was  made,  to  meet  them  daily ;  until  the 
sickness  occurred.  It  is  a  practice,  current,  every  where ;  and  no- 
where regarded  as  evidence  or  intention  of  fraud.  The  account  was 
troublesome,  in  this  way,  to  the  officers  of  the  Bank ;  but  no  objec- 
tion, other  than  that,  was  ever  made  by  any  of  them.  It  may  be  safe- 
ly asserted,  and  contradiction  defied,  that  no  idea  of  dishonesty  was 
ever  in  their  minds.  So  far  from  it,  the  Cashiers  in  all  the  Banks, 
in  which  the  undersigned  did  business,  will  testify  to  his  proverbial 
punctuality,  for  years. 

CHARGE  IX. 

Wilfully  persisting  in  making  written  promises  to  pay  money,  at  stated 
periods  and  times,  and  allowing  said  promises  to  be  repeatedly  broken  and 
unfulfilled. 

REPLY. 

If  this  charge  means  any  thing,  it  is,  that  when  applied  to  for 
payment,  the  undersigned  promised  to  do  so,  at  a  time,  when  he  hoped 
it  would  be  possible ;  and  then  was  disappointed.  He  might  have 
refused  to  promise.  But  he  was  always  anxious  to  meet  every  one's 
convenience;  and  sometimes  undertook  what  was  found  to  exceed 
his  ability.  If  there  is  dishonesty  in  this,  it  is  of  very  common 
occurrence.  "Whoever  casts  a  stone,  should  himself  be  "without  sin." 

CHARGE  X. 

That  he  induced  individuals  to  endorse  notes  for  him  under  pretence  that 
they  were  to  renew  notes  which  had  been  previously  endorsed  by  the  said  indi- 
viduals ,  and,  after  obtaining  said  notes  for  such  avowed  object,  appropriating 
them  to  other  purposes — leaving  the  old  notes  they  were  pledged  to  renew 
unpaid,  and  thus  increasing  the  liabilities  of  the  said  endorser  without  his 
consent. 

SPECIFICATION  1. 

He  obtained  the  endorsements  of  Michael  Hays  in  the  manner  set  forth  in 
the  foregoing  charge  to  an  amount  much  larger  than  he  would  have  been 
willing  to  endorse  for  him. 

REPLY. 

Michael  Hays  kept  no  account  of  the  notes,  endorsed  by  him ; 
and  so,  could  never  testify,  to  the  amount  of  them.  They  were  al- 


40 

most  uniformly  endorsed,  with  the  dates,  blank ;  and  being,  with  rare 
exceptions,  for  the  same  sum,  could  never  be  identified,  nor  their  appro- 
priation ascertained.  Moreover,  the  endorsements  were  bought  and 
paid  for  ;  and  were  as  properly  convertible  to  any  use,  as  bank  notes 
would  have  been.  The  undersigned  denies  entirely  the  pretence, 
charged  above.  For  the  reasons,  above  stated,  it  never  could  be 
established.  If  what  is  charged  had  occurred,  the  protest  of  the 
note  would  have  gone  at  once  to  the  endorser ;  and  told  the  tale. 
The  falsehood  is  transparent.  Finally,  Michael  Hays  has  acknow- 
ledged, as  can  be  proved,  that  he  declared  under  oath  before  the 
G-rand  Jury,  in  August,  1850,  that  HE  HAD  NO  CAUSE  OF  COMPLAINT 

AGAINST    THE  UNDERSIGNED. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

He  obtained  the  endorsement  of  Joseph  Deacon,  in  the  manner  set  forth,  in 
the  preceding  charge,  to  an  amount  much  larger  than  he  would  otherwise  have 
endorsed  for  him. 

REPLY. 

The  very  same  remarks  are  equally  applicable  to  this,  and  the 
former,  specification.  Joseph  Deacon  has  acknowledged,  as  can  be 
proved,  that  he  declared  under  oath,  lefore  the  Grand  Jury,  in 
August,  1850,  that  HE  HAD  NO  CAUSE  OF  COMPLAINT,  AGAINST  THE 

UNDERSIGNED. 

CHARGE  XI. 

That  on  or  about  the  30th  day  of  April,  1846,  he  signed  the  name  of 
Horace  Binney,  Esq.,  to  a  subscription  paper,  and  thereby  making  him  a  sub- 
scriber to  the  amount  of  $1000  towards  the  building  of  a  new  church  in  the 
city  of  Burlington,  without  any  authority  from  the  said  Horace  Binney,  Esq., 
to  write  his  name  to  said  subscription  paper. 

REPLY. 

It  need  hardly  be  said,  that  the  subscription  was  made,  under  the 
impression,  that  it  was  authorised  by  Mr.  Binney.  If  it  were  not, 
of  course  the  payment  would  be  refused.  In  any  event,  it  could 
confer  no  personal  advantage  on  the  undersigned. 

CHARGE  XII. 

That,  after  making  said  subscription,  and  with  a  view  of  justifying  or 
exculpating  himself,  he  did,  on  the  28th  day  of  May,  1847,  write  a  letter  to 
Thomas  Milnor,  Secretary,  wherein  he  made  the  following  statement,  viz. — 
"  Let  me  here  say,  that  in  procuring  a  subscription  of  more  than  §13,000, 
no  man  or  woman  put  in  a  single  word  of  condition,  or  the  slightest  claim  for 
equivalent,  unless  Mr.  Binney  so  makes  out  his  case  ;"— which  said  statement 


41 

js  untrue,  and  was  known  to  be  untrue  by  the  said  George  W.  Doane  at  the 
time  he  wrote  said  letter. 

REPLY. 

The  said  statement,  not  being  untrue,  could  not  be  known  to  be 
untrue.  No  man  or  woman^'d  "  put  in  a  single  word  of  condition, 
or  the  slightest  claim  for  equivalent ;  unless  Mr.  Binney  so  make 
out  his  case."  What  is  here  alluded  to,  as  contradictory  of  this 
statement,  was  the  conversion,  on  the  part  of  several  of  the  subscri- 
bers, of  their  loans  to  St.  Mary's  Hall,  into  gifts  to  St.  Mary's 
Church.  But  this  conversion  was  made,  in  every  case,  at  the  instance 
of  the  undersigned ;  and  involved,  on  his  part,  the  present  payment 
of  money,  subscribed,  to  be  paid,  at  his  convenience.  The  payment, 
in  every  case,  was  made :  to  the  amount  of  several  thousand  dollars. 

CHARGE  XIII. 

That  he  took  an  undue  advantage  of  his  official  station  and  ministerial 
character  in  borrowing  arid  obtaining  money  from  women  and  persons  little 
skilled  in  business,  who  were  least  able  to  resist  the  influence  of  his  office  and 
position,  and  then  disappointed  their  just  expectations  by  neglecting  to  fulfil  his 
engagements  to  them. 

SPECIFICATION  1. 
Borrowing  of  Sarah  Vansciver  $400. 

REPLY. 

Sarah  Vansciver  was,  in  no  way,  subject  to  undue  advantage,  from 
the  undersigned.  She  did  not  live  in  Burlington.  The  money  came 
into  his  hands,  as  often  occurred,  as  a  loan ;  to  be  used  in  his  busi- 
ness. It  was  secured  by  bond  and  warrant  of  attorney.  The  whole 
amount  was  long  since  paid. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 
Borrowing  of  Mrs.  C.  Lippincott  $11,951.67. 

REPLY. 

Mrs.  C.  Lippincott  was  most  intimately  acquainted  with  all  the 
business  risks  and  relations  of  the  undersigned ;  and  had  the  deepest 
interest  in  the  institutions,  for  which  they  were  undertaken.  She  is 
connected,  by  marriage,  with  the  family  of  the  undersigned;  and 
has  been,  for  almost  twenty  years,  as  one  of  his  family.  She  had 
money,  variously  situated.  She  desired  to  call  it  nearer  to  her. 
She  preferred  investing  it  in  the  work,  in  which  the  undersigned 
was  engaged,  and  receiving  her  interest  from  him,  to  having  it  in 
any  other  form.  She  acted  with  the  fullest  intelligence,  and  with 
the  most  perfect  freedom.  The  interest  on  the  whole  amount  has 


42 

been  constantly  paid,  from  another  source ;  and  will  be,  until  the 
principal  is  reimbursed. 

SPECIFICATION  3. 
Borrowing  of  Mrs.  A.  C.  Winslow  $1700. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned  is  the  guardian  of  Mrs.  Winslow's  only  child. 
She  requested  him  to  receive  and  take  charge  of  a  legacy  of  $3000  ; 
partly  hers,  and  partly  his.  She  has  received  it,  in  part.  The 
interest  has  been  duly  paid ;  and  the  balance  is  responsibly  re- 
cognized, as  a  debt  to  be  reimbursed.  Mrs.  Winslow  has  always 
been  as  one  of  his  own  family.  Her  husband  was  to  him,  as  a 
son.  Their  child  is  as  his  own ;  receiving  his  education,  without 
charge,  at  Burlington  College. 

SPECIFICATION  4. 
Borrowing  of  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  Robardett  $3000. 

REPLY. 

Mrs.  Robardett  has  a  bond  and  mortgage,  on  property,  abundant 
for  the  security  ;  and  duly  receives  her  interest.  The  record  of  this 
security  is  at  Mount  Holly ;  accessible  to  all.  But,  it  did  not 
suit  the  four  to  see  it.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  this  specifica- 
tion sustains  the  charge  of  taking  "undue  advantage,"  or  "dis- 
appointing" "just  expectations,"  or  "neglecting  to  fulfil  engage- 
ments." 

CHARGE  XIV. 

That  after  making  solemn  assurances  to  pay  money  justly  due  to  an  indivi- 
dual, he  threatened  that  if  said  individual  complained  to  the  Convention  of 
New  Jersey,  he  would  pay  him  nothing. 

SPECIFICATION. 

Michael  Hays  told  said  George  "W.  Doane,  that  if  he  did  not  pay  him  accord- 
ing to  his  agreement,  he  would  complain  of  him  to  the  Episcopal  Convention 
then  about  to  be  held  on  the  28th  of  May,  1851 ;  and  the  said  George  W.  Doane 
then  replied  that  if  he  did,  he  would  not  pay  said  Michael  Hays  any  thing,  or 
he  should  have  nothing. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned  had  agreed  to  pay  Michael  Hays,  on  condition 
that  he  settled  the  notes,  endorsed  by  him,  without  litigation,  one 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  until  one  half  of  the  amount  of  his 
cudorsements,  in  principal  and  interest,  was  paid ;  and  had  given, 


43 

jointly,  with  his  wife,  an  order  on  the  Trustees,  in  Boston,  by  whom 
her  income  is  paid ;  to  be  obtained  from  them,  in  case  he  failed  to 
pay  it.  His  sole  reliance,  to  meet  this  engagement,  himself, 
was  the  payment,  to  him,  of  his  salary,  as  Head  of  the  two 
Institutions.  The  payment  of  this  salary  being  deferred,  by 
reason  of  the  appropriation  of  the  funds,  to  objects,  supposed,  by  the 
Executive  Committee,  to  be  more  urgent,  Michael  Hays  had  then 
the  remedy,  stipulated  and  accepted,  in  an  application  to  the 
Trustees,  in  Boston.  Instead  of  making  this  resort,  he  threatened, 
last  Spring,  to  apply  to  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese.  The  reply 
of  the  undersigned  was,  that  he  would  get  nothing,  by  that ;  that  he 
would  thus  disturb  the  quiet,  which  he  had  agreed  to  maintain,  and 
so  do  injury  to  the  institutions  ;  and,  if  that  course  were  undertaken, 
the  agreement  was  broken,  and  the  undersigned  would  pay  him,  no 
more.  Michael  Hays  rejoined,  that  he  did  not  expect  that  he 
would  ;  but  that  he  had  made  his  determination. 

CHARGE  XV. 

He  has  ground  the  face  of  the  poor  and  oppressed  the  hireling  in  his 
wages. 

SPECIFICATION  1. 

He  admits  in  his  list  of  creditors,  that  he  is  indebted  to  the  servants  at  Bur- 
lington College  and  St.  Mary's  Hall,  in  the  large  sum  of  $1490. 

REPLY. 

Fifty  servants,  in  the  five  months'  illness  of  the  undersigned, 
accumulated  a  debt  of  less  than  $1500 :  an  average  of  $30  each. 
Every  cent  was  paid  them,  from  the  receipts  of  the  new  term, 
within  sixty  days.  And  this  is  grinding  the  face  of  the  poor ;  and 
oppressing  the  hireling  in  his  wages.  It  is  not  stated  what  it  is,  to 
have  given  constant  employment,  with  good  pay,  to,  from  twenty,  to 
fifty,  servants,  for  fifteen  years. 

As  to  grinding  the  face  of  the  poor,  there  is  no  class  of  people, 
with  whom  the  undersigned  has  ever  had  so  much  acceptance.  And, 
were  the  four  false  accusers  to  attempt  a  rally  of  the  poor  of 
Burlington,  against  him;  they  would  find  themselves  reckoning, 
without  their  host. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

He  admits  in  his  list  of  creditors,  that  he  is  indebted  to  William  II.  Carse, 
one  of  his  gardeners,  in  the  sum  of  $519.16,  and  also  for  sundry  bills  contracted 
for  him  by  said  Carse  to  the  amount  of  §592.37. 


44 

REPLY. 

William  H.  Carse,  here  set  down,  by  a  rhetorical  flourish,  as 
"  one  of "  the  "  gardeners"  of  the  undersigned,  was,  not  only, 
gardener  and  farmer,  for  Riverside,  St.  Mary's  Hall,  the  College, 
and  the  Farm ;  amounting,  in  all,  to  more  than  thirty  acres :  but 
dairyman,  and  gasman,  for  the  three  establishments.  He  had  many 
men  under  him ;  and,  in  the  payment  of  their  wages,  and  in  the 
purchase  of  all  the  supplies  of  all  kinds,  in  all  his  departments,  had 
the  disbursement  of  large  sums  of  money.  Is  it  very  remarkable, 
that,  in  the  five  months'  sickness  of  the  undersigned,  he  should 
have  accumulated  an  advance  of  less  than  six  hundred  dollars  ? 
Could  he  have  had  a  very  poor  face,  to  grind,  who  could  have  credit, 
to  that  amount?  Might  not  the  men,  who  looked  into  the 
indebtedness  so  sharply,  have  discovered,  that  he  had  been,  long 
since,  paid,  every  dollar,  of  his  advance,  and  of  his  wages  ?  If  they 
had,  would  they  have  told  it  ? 

CHARGE  XVI. 

Notwithstanding  he  knew  that  he  was  insolvent,  he  continued  to  live  in  a 
style  of  sumptuous  extravagance  wholly  beyond  his  means,  and  he  still  conti- 
nues so  to  live  while  poor  creditors  are  suffering  for  want  of  the  monies  which 
he  justly  owes  them. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned,  as  has  before  been  shown,  has  never  had  an 
average  annual  income,  during  his  episcopate,  from  all  official  sources, 
of  more  than  $500.  His  living,  and  that  of  his  family,  have  been 
sustained  by  the  income  of  his  wife.  At  no  time  have  his  expenses 
nearly  equalled  the  amount  of  his  income :  though,  in  his  earnest 
zeal  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Lord,  in  his  hands,  he  anticipated 
that  income,  and  greatly  embarrassed  it.  His  expenses  have  been 
materially  reduced,  since  his  failure.  The  house  and  its  appoint- 
ments are  held,  by  others,  for  the  comfort  of  their  mother :  for 
whose  just  and  dutiful  gratification  all  of  them  were  created.  What 
becomes  of  the  meanness  of  this  calumnious  and  malignant  false- 
hood, with  these  explanations  ?  The  four,  who  prepared  this  charge 
live  in  a  community,  in  which  the  state  of  things,  thus  set  forth,  is 
familiarly  known,  to  all.  And  no  one,  whom  the  undersigned  has 
ever  had  the  pleasure  to  receive,  as  guest,  at  Riverside,  will  say, 
that  "sumptuous  extravagance" had  ever  any  place, there. 


45 

CHARGE  XVII. 

That,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  his  Agents  to  borrow  money  for  him,  he 
represented  to  them  that  he  was  indebted  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  $70,000, 
and  that  a  loan  to  him  of  $50,000  would  enable  him  to  pay  all  his  debts,  with 
the  exception  of  about  $16,000  or  $17,000 ;  and  he  permitted  such  Agents 
knowingly  to  make  such  a  representation  to  individuals,  to  induce  them  to 
advance  money  for  him,  when  he  well  knew,  or  might  easily  have  known,  that 
such  representations  were  untrue,  for  in  his  assignment,  made  a  few  months 
afterwards,  he  acknowledges  his  debts  to  amount  to  more  than  $250,000,  and 
after  that,  it  appears  that  this  large  amount  did  not  cover  his  entire  indebted- 
ness by  several  thousand  dollars. 

REPLY. 

The  undersigned  replies  to  this,  that  the  amount  of  indebtedness, 
stated  above,  as  $70,000,  was  rather  an  estimate,  than  a  statement. 
The  work  of  the  Church  was  labouring,  under  the  difficulty  of 
providing  supplies  for  it ;  and  the  cost  of  providing  them  was 
enormous.  Moreover,  the  paper  relied  on,  for  the  supplies,  was 
becoming  more  and  more  difficult  to  negotiate.  What  the  under- 
signed desired,  was  the  means  to  take  up  all  these  notes,  as  they 
fell  due,  and  use  no  more  of  them ;  and  to  have  ready  money, 
for  expenditures,  during  the  current  term.  This  would  require,  he 
estimated,  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  called  his  friends  together, 
and  proposed  to  them  to  make  a  loan  to  that  amount :  giving,  as 
security  for  its  repayment,  all  his  real  estate,  in  every  form ; 
Riverside,  St.  Mary's  Hall,  the  farm  connected  with  the  College. 
With  that  amount  of  cash  in  hand,  he  could  have  got  on.  But,  he 
did  not  have  it.  A  large  portion  of  it  took  the  shape  of  funded 
debt.  Another  large  portion  was  paid  in  notes,  which  could  not  be 
availed  of,  at  once.  In  the  mean  time,  one  and  another  obligation 
was  compelled  to  lie  over ;  which  brought  distrust  upon  the  case. 
The  result  was  the  failure  of  the  loan,  to  give  the  desired  relief. 
The  difficulties  were  thus  made  greater :  and,  in  the  ten  months — not 
as  stated  above,  "a  few  months" — which  ensued,  before  the  failure, 
the  amount  of  the  indebtedness  was  fearfully  increased.  The  esti- 
mate of  $70,000  was  obviously  erroneous.  It  was  called  for  un- 
expectedly ;  and  had  to  be  made  up  hastily.  But  it  is  utterly 
unjust  to  put  it  in  contrast  with  the  gross  sum  of  $250,000  :  when 
$100,000  of  it  was  represented  by  real  estate. 

When  all  is  said,  the  plan  of  the  loan  was  not  original  with  the 
undersigned :  but  with  gentlemen  in  Burlington,  connected  neither 
with  the  College,  nor  with  the  Church.  There  can  be  no  better 
proof  of  their  satisfaction  with  his  course,  in  the  premises,  than 
that  they  were  large  subscribers  to  the  loan. 


46 

CHARGE  XVIII. 

He  has  violated  the  sacred  vows  that  he  made  when  he  was  consecrated 
Bishop,  wherein  he  promised  to  "  deny  all  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and 
live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly  in  this  present  world ;"  that  "  he  might 
show  himself  in  all  things  an  example  of  good  works  unto  others,  that  the 
adversary  might  not  be  ashamed,  having  no  evil  thing  to  say  against  him." 

SPECIFICATION  1. 

Though  for  two  years  at  least  he  knew  that  charges  of  ungodly  conduct  had 
been  published  against  him,  he  has  not  by  any  writing  or  publication  over  his 
own  signature  denied  them,  but  by  continued  silence  under  these  repeated  and 
reiterated  charges,  he  has  impeded  the  growth  of  the  Church,  prevented  persons 
from  coming  forward  to  be  confirmed,  and  some  who  would  have  otherwise 
united  themselves  with  the  communion  of  the  Church,  have  kept  back  because 
our  Episcopal  Head  has  remained  silent  under  so  many  and  so  grievous  charges. 

REPLY. 

No  charges  have  ever  been  brought  against  the  undersigned,  by 
any  respectable  or  responsible  person.  He  could  not  be  expected 
to  deny  any  others.  It  was  sufficient  for  him  that  he  continued 
to  enjoy,  uninterrupted  and  undiminished,  the  confidence  of  his 
Convention,  the  confidence  of  his  Diocese,  the  confidence  of  his 
Parishioners,  the  confidence  of  the  Trustees  and  Patrons  of  the 
College  and  of  the  Hall,  the  confidence  of  his  friends,  the  confi- 
dence of  the  community.  The  marks  and  tokens  of  this  confidence 
are,  in  part,  stated,  in  a  former  portion  of  this  Reply.  A  great  and 
constant  increase,  in  numbers,  and,  it  is  hoped,  in  godliness,  is  there 
devoutly  acknowledged.  That,  under  other  circumstances,  it  would 
have  been  still  greater,  the  four  may  assert,  but  cannot  prove.  The 
undersigned,  besides  being  a  Bishop,  is  in  the  exercise  of  all  the 
offices  of  a  parish  Priest.  He  is  thus  brought  into  the  closest 
and  most  sensitive  relations,  with  the  community.  In  all  the  last 
three  years,  he  has  had  no  knowledge  that  a  single  individual  has 
withdrawn  from  the  Holy  Communion,  or  from  attendance  on  public 
worship,  on  any  ground,  personal  to  himself. 

SPECIFICATION  2. 

Instead  of  setting  a  good  example  to  others,  he  has  set  an  evil  example  in 
living  beyond  his  income  and  by  contracting  debts  he  is  wholly  unable  to  pay. 
He  has  violated  the  injunctions  of  St.  Paul  which  tell  us,  "  to  render  unto  all 
their  dues  and  to  owe  no  man  any  thing,"  but  he  has  placed  a  stumbling  block 
in  the  way  of  Christians. 

REPLY. 
This  is  a  repetition  of  charge  XVI. 


47 

SPECIFICATION  3. 

Instead  of  so  conducting  himself  as  to  cause  the  adversaries  of  the  Church  to 
be  ashamed  and  to  have  nothing  to  say  against  him,  he  has  so  conducted  him- 
self as  to  cause  complaint  to  be  made  against  him  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  the 
county  of  Burlington  for  misdemeanor,  and  thus  given  occasion  to  the  adversa- 
ries of  the  Church  to  say  that  a  majority  of  the  Grand  Jury  were  in  favor  of  in- 
dicting him  for  a  misdemeanor,  and  that  it  was  only  by  the  interference  of  per- 
sons not  members  of  the  Grand  Jury  which  induced  a  reconsideration  of  the 
vote  of  the  Grand  Jury,  and  prevented  a  bill  of  indictment  being  found  against 
him. 

REPLY. 

In  replying  to  this  Specification,  the  undersigned  sets  forth  the 
oath,  taken  by  the  members  of  the  Grand  Jury: — "You  shall  well 
and  diligently  inquire  and  true  presentment  make,  of  all  such  mat- 
ters as  shall  be  given  you,  in  charge,  or  shall  come  to  your  know- 
ledge, touching  the  present  service.  The  Counsel  for  the  State,  your 
fellows,  and  your  own,  you  shall  keep  secret.  You  shall  present  no 
one,  for  envy,  hatred  or  malice  ;  neither  shall  you  leave  any  one  un- 
presented,  from  favor,  affection,  fear,  reward,  gain,  or  the  hope 
thereof.  But  you  shall  present  all  things  truly,  as  they  shall  come 
to  your  knowledge  according  to  the  best  of  your  skill  and  under- 
standing. So  help  you  God." — And,  he,  then,  insists,  that  this  spe- 
cification, if  it  have  any  weight,  is  laid  against  the  Grand  Jury ;  and 
not  against  himself.  For,  that  the  four  laymen  might  know  it  to  be 
true,  some  Grand  Juror  must  have  been  regardless  of  his  oath ;  "  the 
Counsel  for  the  State,"  his  "  fellows,"  and  himself,  to  "  keep  secret ;" 
and  a  majority  of  the  Grand  Jury  must  have  disregarded  their  sol- 
emn oath,  not  to  "leave  any  one  unpresented,  from  favor,  affec- 
tion, fear,  reward,  gain  or  the  hope  thereof." 

Whatever  the  truth  may  be,  it  was  through  no  influence  of  the  un- 
dersigned, direct  or  indirect,  nor  with  his  privity,  that  any  thing  was 
done,  or  not  done ;  considered,  or  reconsidered. 

CHARGE  XIX. 

His  conduct  while  presiding  in  the  Conventions  of  his  Diocese  has  been  dis- 
courteous, undignified,  unfair,  over-bearing,  arbitrary,  and  tyrannical,  wholly 
destitute  of  that  Christian  meekness  and  humility,  kindness  and  condescension 
which  should  characterize  a  Christian  Bishop. 

REPLY. 

To  a  specification,  entirely  made  up  of  personalities,  the  under- 
signed makes  no  reply.  Even  if  it  were  true,  it  certainly  cannot  be 
regarded  as  matter  for  inquiry,  any  where,  without  the  diocese. 


48 

The  undersigned  has  done  with  the  details  of  the  false,  calum- 
nious, and  malignant  representations  of  "William  Halsted,  Caleb 
Perkins,  Peter  V,  Coppuck  and  Bennington  Gill.  How  many  of  them 
he  has  shown  to  be  entirely  false,  he  does  not  stop  to  count.  That, 
falsehoods,  perversions  or  distortions  of  the  truth,  insinuations,  or 
whatever  other  form  they  take,  they  are  calumnious,  all,  is  apparent, 
on  their  face.  That  their  animus,  throughout,  has  been  malignant, 
is  just  as  clear  and  undeniable.  They  are  all  neighbours  of  the 
undersigned.  They  have  never  suffered,  from  him,  the  shadow  of  a 
wrong.  They  are  related  to  him,  as  to  a  father,  in  Christ  Jesus. 
And,  yet,  not  one  of  them  has  ever  come  to  him  to  seek  an  explana- 
tion. Not  one  of  them  has  ever  sought  to  see  the  books.  Nay, 
they  have  not  even  searched  the  records  of  the  County  Office,  which 
they  profess  to  quote ;  or  searched  them,  to  pervert  them.  They 
have  distilled,  in  secret,  the  poison  of  their  hearts :  and  they  now 
commend  the  chalice  to  his  lips,  with  the  astounding  declaration, 
"  We  are  actuated  by  no  motives  of  personal  hostility,  against  the 
Bishop." 

And  these  are  the  four  persons,  and  such  the  charges,  upon  whose 
authority,  three  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  God,  without  acquaintance 
with  the  men,  or  inquiry  as  to  their  allegations,  have  relied,  as 
the  ground  of  criminal  proceedings,  against  their  peer.  Fearful, 
indeed,  the  reckoning,  they  will  have  to  meet !  For  the  inroad, 
which  has  thus  been  made,  upon  the  sacred  sorrows  of  a  deso- 
lated hearth ;  for  the  interruption  of  the  daily  duties  of  an  office, 
which  adds,  to  the  care  of  a  diocese,  the  care  of  a  parish,  and  the 
care  of  two  institutions,  in  which  two  hundred  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Church  are  nurtured ;  for  the  storm  which  now 
must  burst  upon  the  peace  and  quiet  of -the  Church ;  for  this  aggres- 
sion, on  the  diocese  of  New  Jersey ;  for  this  invasion  of  the  rights  of 
its  Convention ;  for  this  injustice,  indignity,  and  cruelty  towards  its 
Bishop — for  the  whole  amount,  and  all  the  shapes,  and  every  inci- 
dent and  consequence,  of  this  enormous  wrong — the  undersigned 
holds,  as  responsible,  the  Bishops  of  Virginia,  Maine  and  Ohio ; 
accuses  them,  before  Christendom ;  and  summons  them,  in  all 
solemnity  and  sorrow,  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God. 

GEORGE  W.  DOANE, 

Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 

Riverside,  9  February,  1852. 


APPENDIX. 

SO  MUCH  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 

CONVENTION   OF   THE   DIOCESE    OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

IN  MAY,  MDCCCXLIX., 
AS  RELATES  TO  THE  CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  BISHOP  :* 

AS   REPORTED,    BY 

CHARLES    KING,    ESQ., 

NOW  PRESIDENT  OF  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE, 

A  DEPUTY  IN   THAT   CONVENTION. 


Pp.  23 — 25  foregoing. 

IT  was  now  half-past  6  o'clock,  P.  M.,  when  the  following  resolution 
was  offered  by  William  Halsted,  Esq.,  of  Trenton : 

Whereas,  a  Bishop  should  be  blameless,  and  should  have  a  good  report  of 
those  that  are  without,  lest  he  fall  into  reproach ;  and,  whereas,  public  rumor, 
as  well  as  newspaper  publications,  have  made  serious  charges  against  our  Bishop, 
impeaching  his  moral  character,  tending  to  impair  his  usefulness,  and  to  bring 
the  church  of  which  he  is  Bishop  into  disrepute — therefore, 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed,  consisting  of  three  clergymen  and 
three  laymen,  who,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  make  such  inquiries  as  shall 
satisfy  them  of  the  innocency  of  the  accused,  or  of  the  sufficiency  of  ground  for 
presentment  and  trial ;  and  that  they  do  make  report  to  this  Convention  at  its 
present  session,  or  at  such  other  time  as  this  Convention  shall  designate. 

Previous  to  presenting  the  resolution,  Mr.  H.  said  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  proposition  he  was  about  to  submit,  nearly  concerned  the  char- 
acter of  the  presiding  officer,  he  desired,  in  courtesy  to  that  distin- 
guished gentleman,  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of  vacating  the  Chair 
by  going  into  Committee  of  the  Whole. 

This  being  quite  an  unusual  course  in  the  Convention,  and  the 


*  This  statement  has  had  a  wide  circulation  in  the  New  York  Courier  and  En- 
quirer, and  in  many  other  papers ;  as  a  fly-leaf  to  the  Journal  of  the  Convention,  and 
to  the  Register  of  St.  Mary's  Hall  and  Burlington  College ;  and  as  part  of  a  pam- 
phlet, entitled,  "  A  BRIEF  NARRATIVE."  It  was  sent,  to  all  the  Bishops.  Had  the 
three  forgotten  it  ?  Or  did  they  choose  to  disregard  it  ? 

4 


50 

Bishop  indicating  no  wish  to  shrink  from  any  duty,  as  presiding  offi- 
cer, the  motion  was  not  pressed,  and  the  resolution  was  presented. 

Mr.  Halsted  prefaced  the  resolution  with  a  few  remarks,  in  calm 
and  measured  language,  disclaiming  any  unkind  feeling  towards  the 
Bishop,  or  any  purpose  other  than  one  of  enabling  him  to  place  for- 
mally and  officially  before  the  Diocese,  such  explanation  as  he  might 
be  disposed  and  able  to  give  of  the  charges,  which,  in  the  shape  of 
rumors,  newspaper  publications,  and  placards  in  our  chief  cities,  were 
calculated  so  injuriously  to  affect  his  reputation. 

An  earnest  debate  ensued  upon  this  resolution.  It  was  opposed 
by  Mr.  A.  Gifford,  Judge  Dayton  Ogden,  Charles  King,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Phillips,  and  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Ogilby,  and  supported  by  the  mover,  Mr. 
Halsted. 

By  the  two  first  named  gentlemen,  it  was  shown,  that  the  Conven- 
tion could  not  lawfully  pass  the  resolution  presented  to  them — that 
it  was  wholly  uncanonical  and  unconstitutional ;  but  those  gentlemen, 
and  all  the  others  who  spoke  in  opposition  to  the  resolution,  unre- 
servedly declared,  that  if  charges  specifying  with  reasonable  pre- 
cision, the  offences  imputed  by  rumor,  or  any  offence  cognizable  by  the 
Convention,  should  be  presented,  they  would  oppose  no  obstacle  to 
the  receiving,  referring  and  investigation  of  such  charges ;  but  that 
in  no  other  way  could  the  Convention  lawfully  reach  or  touch  the 
subject. 

Mr.  King  spoke  with  great  earnestness  against  the  injustice  and 
enormity  of  putting  any  man  on  his  defence — and,  least  of  all,  a 
man  such  as  Bishop  Doane — upon  vague  rumor,  and  what  was  called 
"newspaper  publications."  Mr.  K.  said  he  felt  his  own  personal 
character,  and  the  calling  to  which  the  best  years  of  his  life  had  been 
devoted,  concerned  in  rescuing  newspapers — such  as  he  understood 
what  a  newspaper  should  be,  and  what  the  obligation  and  duty  of  the 
editor  of  such  a  paper  were — from  any  fellowship  with,  or  responsi- 
bility for,  such  papers  as  that  which  had  circulated  the  charges 
referred  to  in  the  resolution — a  common  receptacle  for  all  that  is 
vile,  and  pandering  to  the  worst  vices,  passions,  and  prejudices  of  our 
nature. 

Mr.  K.  insisted,  that,  whereas,  upon  rumor  or  newspaper  charges, 
the  meanest  criminal  could  not  be  arraigned,  it  was  intolerable  that 
a  man  of  such  eminent  services  as  Bishop  Doane,  of  such  untiring 
devotion  to  his  Church,  and  to  the  cause  of  Education  as  connected 
with  the  Church,  of  such  self-sacrificing  labors,  should  be  held  up  as 


51 

a  suspected  criminal,  though  freely  admitting  that  if  these  or  any 
charges  should  be  made  under  a  responsible  name,  and  not  by  ano- 
nymous slanderers — the  basest  at  once  and  most  cowardly  of  man- 
kind— there  should,  and  would  be  no  hesitation  in  raising  a  commit- 
tee of  investigation.  The  gentleman,  who  presented  the  resolutions, 
did  not  profess  to  know  anything  of  the  truth  of  these  rumors,  or 
newspaper  publications,  and  in  no  manner  makes  himself  responsible ; 
and  this  should,  of  itself,  determine  the  Convention  to  reject  the 
resolution. 

The  meeting  of  this  Convention  was  no  sudden  meeting,  nor  clan- 
destine meeting.  It  was  a  stated  annual  meeting,  known  of  all  men 
who  might  desire,  months  in  advance ;  and  its  place  of  assembling 
equally  well  known  to  be  at  this  town  of  Burlington,  where  the  mis- 
deeds which  rumor  imputed  to  the  Bishop  had  been  perpetrated. 

If,  then,  there  was  truth  in  these  rumors,  how  comes  it  that — 
after  sitting  here  with  open  doors,  with  the  eyes  of  all  upon  us,  with 
the  ears  of  all  open  to  our  discussions — no  word  of  complaint,  no 
charge  of  any  sort  had  been  made  in  any  responsible  manner  to  this 
Convention,  against  the  Bishop  ?  The  fact  that  none  such  had  been 
made  must,  Mr.  K.  contended,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
be  regarded  as  outweighing  entirely,  and  discrediting,  the  rumors 
upon  which  Mr.  H.  wished  to  proceed. 

Mr.  K.,  after  reviewing  rapidly  the  career  of  Bishop  Doane  in 
New  Jersey,  and  his  eminent  success  there  in  building  up  semi- 
naries of  learning  and  the  Church,  called  upon  the  Convention  to 
stand  by  him,  and  show  by  their  vote  this  day,  that  however  over- 
sanguine  Bishop  Doane  may  have  been  in  some  of  his  anticipations, 
however  even  improvident  in  expenditures — made  not  for  personal 
purposes,  but  for  great  public  ends — nothing  had  been  presented,  or 
was  known,  to  the  Convention  which  could  authorize  any  withdrawal 
of  confidence  or  support  from  him,  or  impair  the  trust  they  had — 
that  with  renewed  health  and  God's  blessing  upon  his  labors,  the 
Diocese  would  yet  reap,  in  the  prosperous  and  triumphant  march 
of  the  Church  and  the  Church  schools,  the  most  satisfactory  reward 
for  their  steady  and  unshaken  adherence  to  their  Diocesan. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Ogilby  presented,  with  great  force,  his  views  of  the 
iniquity  of  the  proposed  proceeding ;  and  finally  at  about  9  o'clock, 
the  Bishop  rose  to  put  the  question  on  the  passage  of  the  resolu- 
tion. 


52 

When,  after  a  few  brief,  touching,  steadily  uttered  sentences,* 
?/\?upon  the  extraordinary  and  trying  position  in  which  he  stood,  the 
Bishop,  said,  "All  who  are  in  favor  of  this  resolution  will  say  Aye" 
— a  silence  deep  as  death  fell  upon  the  assembly — the  beating  of  each 
heart  was  audible — but  not  a  word  was  spoken.  No  solitary  Aye 
broke  this  awful  silence  !  The  mover  of  the  resolution  himself  was 
voiceless.  After  a  due  pause,  the  Bishop  again  spoke — "All  opposed 
to  this  resolution  will  say  No."  Then  went  up,  as  if  with  one  breath 
and  from  one  heart,  such  a  negative  as  no  one  could  mistake  the 
import  of.  Its  tone,  its  fervor,  its  sincerity,  were  significant,  even 
more  than  its  unanimity.  The  work  was  done,  and  after  finishing 
some  formal  business,  the  Convention  adjourned.  C.  K. 


*  The  Bishop's  actual  words  were  these :  "  The  Convention  will  bear  me  witness, 
that,  during  the  almost  seventeen  years  of  my  Episcopate,  no  important  question  has 
been  considered  here,  on  which  I  have  not  expressed,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  the 
convictions  of  my  judgment,  and  of  my  conscience.  That  the  question,  now  before 
the  Convention,  is  one  of  great  importance  to  the  diocese,  directly,  as  well  as  indi- 
rectly, through  me,  no  one  can  doubt.  But  it  is  a  question  personal  to  myself.  And, 
on  that  account,  I  depart  from  the  practice  of  my  whole  official  life ;  I  waive  the 
claims  and  the  obligations  of  duty;  I  almost  disregard  my  solemn  consecration 
vows — vows,  such  as  lie  on  none  of  you — and,  with  an  entire  and  perfect  unreserve, 
without  a  word,  as  without  a  fear,  submit  the  question  to  God,  and  to  this 
Convention." 


Syracu««,  N.  V. 
Stockton.  Calif. 


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